Archive for June, 2017

Youd be dead wrong because Flaherty, a Wilmington, DE talk show host and superb journalist, has a follow-up book: Dont Make the Black Kids Angry: The hoax of black victimization and those who enable it (Createspace Independent Publishing Platform, 524 pages, exhaustive sourcing of examples, links to videos, quality paperback, $23.78, also available in a $6.99 Kindle ebook from Amazon.com).

The title of Flahertys latest book Im guessing it wont be the last from Flaherty on the politically incorrect subject comes from a quote by former Kansas City MO mayor Emanuel Cleaver. Cleaver is now a congressman. Kansas City like just about every city in the country has been plagued by fighting and wilding committed by young black men and more than a few women. Their favorite venue in Kansas City is the upscale Country Club Plaza, which has been called the nations first suburban shopping center.

Shopping centers and movie theaters are popular venues for blacks fighting, as are nightclubs, gatherings of black college fraternities, events like a gathering of black motorcyclists in places like Myrtle Beach, SC (Im not making that up!) and other urban events in Indianapolis, Miami Beach and other cities.

I was momentarily surprised to see my alma mater, Northern Illinois University in DeKalb, in the new book, as Flaherty recounts incidents of blacks roaming fraternity row, seeking to get into parties. I shouldnt be surprised to see NIU involved with black on white or in the case of one fraternity row incident, black on Hispanic violence. DeKalb is only about 60 miles west of Chicago, where whites and Asians are frequent victims of black thugs, Flaherty writes.

Heres what Flaherty has to say about a subject that most mainstream newspapers and TV stations wish they didnt have to cover. When they do cover the crimes, the race of the perpetrators is almost never used. It shows up in the website comments on stories, but is often removed, Flaherty says.

Instead of race, news outlets employ euphemisms like teens and youths or dont even use any term. Heres what the author has to say about his eye-opening (unless a thug uses the Knock Out Game to close it!) book:

Black people are relentless victims of relentless white violence, often at the end of a badge for No Reason What So Ever.That is the biggest lie of our generation. Because just the opposite is true.

War on black people, anyone?

Black crime and violence against whites, gays, women, seniors, young people and lots of others is astronomically out of proportion.

It just wont quit. Neither will the excuses. Or the denials. Or the black on white hostility. Or those who encourage it.

That is what Dont Make the Black Kids Angry is about.

In 2013, more and more people began to figure out that the traditional excuses jobs, poverty, schooling, whatever for black crime and mayhem were not really working any more.

Now they have a new excuse. The ultimate excuse: White racism is everywhere. White racism is permanent. White racism explains everything.

And right away, you can see the enormous difference between what they said happened.

And what really happened.

* You will read about a young mother with two children who found a group of black people burglarizing her home. After she called police, large groups of black people taunted, harassed, vandalized, threatened, and finally burned down her house.

All while police shrugged their shoulder and said there was not much they could do. Hard to believe, youll get a link to this 911 call, and you can hear it for yourself.

* Youll learn about the massive black on Asian violence against more than 1000 recent Asian immigrants that city officials blamed on Asian naivette and said that was not unusual because it happens to all immigrants.

* Youll read about about 40,000 black people destroying a tourist town because some said they did not feel welcome.

* Well see examples of widespread black mob violence in small towns. And in bigger places where people pride themselves on racial tolerance.

And what about the virulent black mob violence on Memorial Day, the Fourth of July, even Christmas. Well see how widespread that is, how it has been happening for a long time.

And all the time will see how local media deny, ignore, condone, encourage, even lie about it.

* Well visit college campuses, where students are soft targets. Well learn how black student groups hate it when school records show that violent crime and robbery in and around campus is a black thing.

* We document large scale black mob violence at movie theaters and malls. And observe the enormous difference between what they say happened, and what the video show really happened.

* Well see how black on white racial hostility in taught in thousands of schools around the country. How children learn that white racism is everywhere. All the time. And explains everything.

* Well go into the inner chambers of the Society of Professional Journalists, and how they tell their members how to cover black crime and violence: Dont.

* Well take a look at Black History Month, and how it is remembered with violence and denial.

* And we will meet the victims, one after another.

And more and more and more examples of black mob violence from around the country until denial is no longer an option.

All written without racism. Or rancor. Or apologies.

My work has appeared in more than 1000 news sites around the world, including the New York Times, Los Angeles Times, San Diego Union-Tribune, NPR and many, many more.

My story on how a black man was unjustly convicted of trying to kill his white girl friend resulted in his release from state prison. And was featured on NPR and Court TV.

Dont Make the Back Kids Angry breaks new ground, with new stories of black mob violence and black on white crime.

When you are finished, you might have some causes and solutions, but you will definitely have no reason to deny the existence of this epidemic of crime and violence.

Endorsements of Flahertys previous book

Thomas Sowell: Reading Colin Flahertys book made painfully clear to me that the magnitude of this problem is greater than I had discovered from my own research. He documents both the race riots and the media and political evasions in dozens of cities. Sowell is an African-American.

Sean Hannity: White Girl Bleed a Lot has gone viral.

Los Angeles Times: a favorite of conservative voices. {The ultra-liberal L.A. Times, where I worked from 1976 to 1990, rarely if ever uses racial identification in its stories}.

Allen West: At least author Colin Flaherty is tackling this issue (of racial violence) in his new book, White Girl Bleed a Lot: The Return of Racial Violence to America and How the Media Ignore it. West is an African-American.

My advice to anyone sitting down to read this book and Flahertys previous one: be prepared to be shocked and disgusted and to be able to withstand excuses by members of the black journalism society, wacky professors and cops in denial. Youll also find emails to Flaherty from veteran police officers and a link to a police site in Chicago that tells it like it is.

About the AuthorColin Flaherty is an award winning writer whose work has been published in more than 1000 places around the globe, including the New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Boston Globe, Miami Herald, Washington Post, Bloomberg Business Week, Time magazine, and others.

He is the author of the Amazon #1 Best Seller: White Girl Bleed a Lot: The Return of Racial Violence and How the Media Ignore It. And Dont Make the Black Kids Angry: The Hoax of Black Victimization and Those Who Enable It.

As a reporter, he won more than 40 journalism awards, including Best Investigative from the Society of Professional Journalists in San Diego for a story that resulted in the release of an unjustly convicted black man from prison. This case was also featured on Court TV, the Los Angeles Times and other media outlets.

He lives in Wilmington, Delaware, where he (along with his liberal brother ) hosts a talk show on WDEL radio.

McDonald’s is a fast food company that was founded in 1940 as a restaurant operated by Richard and Maurice McDonald, in San Bernardino, California, United States. They rechristened their business as a hamburger stand. The first time a McDonald’s franchise used the Golden Arches logo was in 1953 at a location in Phoenix, Arizona. In 1955, Ray Kroc, a businessman, joined the company as a franchise agent and proceeded to purchase the chain from the McDonald brothers. McDonald’s had its original headquarters in Oak Brook, Illinois, but has approved plans to move its global headquarters to Chicago by 2018.[4][5]

McDonald’s is the world’s largest restaurant chain by revenue[6], serving over 69 million customers daily in over 100 countries[7] across approximately 36,900 outlets as of 2016.[8] Although McDonald’s is known for its hamburgers, they also sell cheeseburgers, chicken products, french fries, breakfast items, soft drinks, milkshakes, wraps, and desserts. In response to changing consumer tastes and a negative backlash because of the unhealthiness of their food,[9] the company has added to its menu salads, fish, smoothies, and fruit. The McDonald’s Corporation revenues come from the rent, royalties, and fees paid by the franchisees, as well as sales in company-operated restaurants. According to a BBC report published in 2012, McDonald’s is the world’s second largest private employer (behind Walmart with 1.9 million employees), 1.5 million of whom work for franchises.

The siblings Richard and Maurice McDonald opened in 1940 the first McDonald’s at 1398 North E Street at West 14th Street in San Bernardino, California (at 340732N 1171741W / 34.1255N 117.2946W / 34.1255; -117.2946) but it was not the McDonald’s recognizable today; Ray Kroc made changes to the brothers business that modernized it. The brothers introduced the “Speedee Service System” in 1948, putting into expanded use the principles of the modern fast-food restaurant that their predecessor White Castle had put into practice more than two decades earlier.[citation needed]. The original mascot of McDonald’s was a chef hat on top of a hamburger who was referred to as “Speedee”. In 1962, the Golden Arches replaced Speedee as the universal mascot. The symbol, Ronald McDonald, was introduced in 1965. The clown, Ronald McDonald, appeared in advertising to target their audience of children.[10]

On May 4, 1961, McDonald’s first filed for a U.S. trademark on the name “McDonald’s” with the description “Drive-In Restaurant Services”, which continues to be renewed. By September 13, 1961, McDonald’s under the guidance of Ray Kroc, filed for a trademark on a new logoan overlapping, double-arched “M” symbol. But before the double arches, McDonald’s used the a single arch for the architecture of their buildings. Although the “Golden Arches” logo appeared in various forms, the present version was not used until November 18, 1968, when the company was favored a U.S. trademark.

The present corporation credits its founding to franchised businessman Ray Kroc in on April 15, 1955, this was in fact the ninth opened McDonald’s restaurant overall; although this location was destroyed and rebuilt in 1984. Kroc later purchased the McDonald brothers’ equity in the company and begun the companies worldwide reach. Kroc was recorded as being an aggressive business partner, driving the McDonald brothers out of the industry.

Kroc and the McDonald brothers fought for control of the business, as documented in Kroc’s autobiography. The San Bernardino restaurant was eventually torn down (1971, according to Juan Pollo) and the site was sold to the Juan Pollo chain in 1976. This area now serves as headquarters for the Juan Pollo chain, and a McDonald’s and Route 66 museum.[11] With the expansion of McDonald’s into many international markets, the company has become a symbol of globalization and the spread of the American way of life. Its prominence has also made it a frequent topic of public debates about obesity, corporate ethics, and consumer responsibility.

McDonald’s restaurants are found in 120 countries and territories around the world and serve 68 million customers each day.[12][13] McDonald’s operates 36,899 restaurants worldwide, employing more than 375,000 people as of the end of 2016.[8][12] There are currently a total of 5,669 company-owned locations and 31,230 franchised locations, which includes 21,559 locations franchised to conventional franchisees, 6,300 locations licensed to developmental licensees, and 3,371 locations licensed to foreign affiliates, primarily Japan.[8]

Focusing on its core brand, McDonald’s began divesting itself of other chains it had acquired during the 1990s. The company owned a majority stake in Chipotle Mexican Grill until October 2006, when McDonald’s fully divested from Chipotle through a stock exchange.[14][15] Until December 2003, it also owned Donatos Pizza, and it owned a small share of Aroma Cafe from 1999 to 2001. On August 27, 2007, McDonald’s sold Boston Market to Sun Capital Partners.[16]

Notably, McDonald’s has increased shareholder dividends for 25 consecutive years,[17] making it one of the S&P 500 Dividend Aristocrats.[18][19] In October 2012, its monthly sales fell for the first time in nine years.[20] In 2014, its quarterly sales fell for the first time in seventeen years, when its sales dropped for the entirety of 1997.[21]

In the United States, it is reported that drive-throughs account for 70 percent of sales.[22][23] McDonald’s closed down 184 restaurants in the United States in 2015, which was 59 more than what they planned to open.[24][25] This move was also the first time McDonald’s had a net decrease in the number of locations in the United States since 1970.[25]

The company currently owns all the land, valued at an estimated $16 to $18 billion, on which its restaurants are situated.[citation needed] The company earns a significant portion of its revenue from rental payments from franchisees. These rent payments rose 26 percent between 2010 and 2015, accounting for one-fifth of the company’s total revenue at the end of the period.[26] In recent times, there have been calls to spin off the company’s US holdings into a potential real estate investment trust, but the company announced at its investor conference on November 10, 2015, that this would not happen. The CEO, Steve Easterbrook discussed that pursuing the REIT option would pose too large a risk to the company’s business model.[27]

The United Kingdom and Ireland business model is different from the U.S, in that fewer than 30 percent of restaurants are franchised, with the majority under the ownership of the company. McDonald’s trains its franchisees and management at Hamburger University in Oak Brook, Illinois.[28][29] In other countries, McDonald’s restaurants are operated by joint ventures of McDonald’s Corporation and other, local entities or governments.[30]

According to Fast Food Nation by Eric Schlosser (2001), nearly one in eight workers in the U.S. have at some time been employed by McDonald’s. Employees are encouraged by McDonald’s Corp. to maintain their health by singing along to their favorite songs in order to relieve stress, attending church services in order to have a lower blood pressure, and taking two vacations annually in order to reduce risk for myocardial infarction.[31] Fast Food Nation also states that McDonald’s is the largest private operator of playgrounds in the U.S., as well as the single largest purchaser of beef, pork, potatoes, and apples. The selection of meats McDonald’s uses varies to some extent based on the culture of the host country.[32]

The McDonald’s headquarters complex, McDonald’s Plaza, is located in Oak Brook, Illinois. It sits on the site of the former headquarters and stabling area of Paul Butler, the founder of Oak Brook.[33] McDonald’s moved into the Oak Brook facility from an office within the Chicago Loop in 1971.[34]

On June 13, 2016, McDonald’s confirmed plans to move its global headquarters to Chicago’s West Loop neighborhood in the Near West Side. The 608,000-square-foot structure will be built on the former site of Harpo Productions (where the Oprah Winfrey Show and several other Harpo productions taped) and open in early 2018.[4][5]

As of November 2014, the board of directors had the following members:[35]

On March 1, 2015, after being chief brand officer of McDonald’s and its former head in the UK and northern Europe, Steve Easterbrook became CEO, succeeding Don Thompson, who stepped down on January 28, 2015.

McDonald’s has become emblematic of globalization, sometimes referred to as the “McDonaldization” of society. The Economist newspaper uses the “Big Mac Index”: the comparison of a Big Mac’s cost in various world currencies can be used to informally judge these currencies’ purchasing power parity. Switzerland has the most expensive Big Mac in the world as of July 2015, while the country with the least expensive Big Mac is India[36][37] (albeit for a Maharaja Macthe next cheapest Big Mac is Hong Kong).[38]

Thomas Friedman once said that no country with a McDonald’s had gone to war with another.[39][40] However, the “Golden Arches Theory of Conflict Prevention” is not strictly true. Exceptions are the 1989 United States invasion of Panama, NATO’s bombing of Serbia in 1999, the 2006 Lebanon War, and the 2008 South Ossetia war. McDonald’s suspended operations in its corporate-owned stores in Crimea after Russia annexed the region in 2014.[41] On August 20, 2014, as tensions between the United States and Russia strained over events in Ukraine, and the resultant U.S. sanctions, the Russian government temporarily shut down four McDonald’s outlets in Moscow, citing sanitary concerns. The company has operated in Russia since 1990 and at August 2014 had 438 stores across the country.[42] On August 23, 2014, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Arkady Dvorkovich ruled out any government move to ban McDonald’s and dismissed the notion that the temporary closures had anything to do with the sanctions.[43]

Some observers have suggested that the company should be given credit for increasing the standard of service in markets that it enters. A group of anthropologists in a study entitled Golden Arches East[44] looked at the impact McDonald’s had on East Asia and Hong Kong, in particular. When it opened in Hong Kong in 1975, McDonald’s was the first restaurant to consistently offer clean restrooms, driving customers to demand the same of other restaurants and institutions. McDonald’s has taken to partnering up with Sinopec, the second largest oil company in the People’s Republic of China, as it takes advantage of the country’s growing use of personal vehicles by opening numerous drive-thru restaurants.[45] McDonald’s has opened a McDonald’s restaurant and McCaf on the underground premises of the French fine arts museum, The Louvre.[46]

The company stated it would open vegetarian-only restaurants in India by mid-2013.[47] Foreign restaurants are banned in Bermuda, with the exception of KFC, which was present before the current law was passed. Therefore, there are no McDonald’s in Bermuda.[48][unreliable source?]

On January 9, 2017, 80% of the franchise rights in the mainland China and in Hong Kong were sold for US$2.080 billion to a consortium of CITIC Limited (for 32%) and private equity funds managed by CITIC Capital (for 20%) and Carlyle (for 20%), which CITIC Limited and CITIC Capital would also formed a joint venture to own the stake.[49]

McDonald’s predominantly sells hamburgers, various types of chicken, chicken sandwiches, French fries, soft drinks, breakfast items, and desserts. In most markets, McDonald’s offers salads and vegetarian items, wraps and other localized fare. On a seasonal basis, McDonald’s offers the McRib sandwich. Some speculate the seasonality of the McRib adds to its appeal.[50]

Products are offered as either “eat-in” (where the customer opts to eat in the restaurant) or “take-out” (where the customer opts to take the food for consumption off the premises). “Eat-in” meals are provided on a plastic tray with a paper insert on the floor of the tray. “Take-out” meals are usually delivered with the contents enclosed in a distinctive McDonald’s-branded brown paper bag. In both cases, the individual items are wrapped or boxed as appropriate.

Since Steve Easterbrook became CEO of the company, McDonald’s has streamlined the menu which in the United States contained nearly 200 items. The company has also looked to introduce healthier options, and removed high-fructose corn syrup from hamburger buns. The company has also removed artificial preservatives from Chicken McNuggets,[51] replacing chicken skin, safflower oil and citric acid found in Chicken McNuggets with pea starch, rice starch and powdered lemon juice.[52]

Restaurants in several countries, particularly in Asia, serve soup. This local deviation from the standard menu is a characteristic for which the chain is particularly known, and one which is employed either to abide by regional food taboos (such as the religious prohibition of beef consumption in India) or to make available foods with which the regional market is more familiar (such as the sale of McRice in Indonesia, or Ebi (prawn) Burger in Singapore and Japan).

In Germany and some other Western European countries, McDonald’s sells beer. In New Zealand, McDonald’s sells meat pies, after the local affiliate partially relaunched the Georgie Pie fast food chain it bought out in 1996.

In the United States, after limited trials on a regional basis, McDonald’s plans to offer an all-day breakfast menu whenever its restaurants are open, although eggs cannot be cooked at the same time on the same equipment as hamburgers due to different temperature requirements.[citation needed]

Most standalone McDonald’s restaurants offer both counter service and drive-through service, with indoor and sometimes outdoor seating.[53] Drive-Thru, Auto-Mac, Pay and Drive, or “McDrive” as it is known in many countries, often has separate stations for placing, paying for, and picking up orders, though the latter two steps are frequently combined;[53] it was first introduced in Arizona in 1975, following the lead of other fast-food chains. The first such restaurant in Britain opened at Fallowfield, Manchester in 1986.[54]

In some countries, “McDrive” locations near highways offer no counter service or seating.[55] In contrast, locations in high-density city neighborhoods often omit drive-through service.[56] There are also a few locations, located mostly in downtown districts, that offer a “Walk-Thru” service in place of Drive-Thru.[57]

McCaf is a caf-style accompaniment to McDonald’s restaurants and is a concept created by McDonald’s Australia (also known, and marketed, as “Macca’s” in Australia), starting with Melbourne in 1993.[58] As of 2016, most McDonald’s in Australia have McCafs located within the existing McDonald’s restaurant. In Tasmania, there are McCafs in every restaurant, with the rest of the states quickly following suit.[53] After upgrading to the new McCaf look and feel, some Australian restaurants have noticed up to a 60 percent increase in sales. At the end of 2003, there were over 600 McCafs worldwide.

From 20152016, McDonald’s tried a new gourmet burger service/restaurant concept based on other gourmet restaurants such as Shake Shack and Grill’d. It was rolled out for the first time in Australia during the early months of 2015 and expanded to China, Hong Kong, Singapore, Arabia and New Zealand, with ongoing trials in the US market. In dedicated “Create Your Taste” (CYT) kiosks, customers could choose all ingredients including type of bun and meat along with optional extras. In late 2015 the Australian CYT service introduced CYT salads.

After a person had ordered, McDonald’s advised that wait times were between 1015 minutes. When the food was ready, trained crew (‘hosts’) brought the food to the customer’s table. Instead of McDonald’s usual cardboard and plastic packaging, CYT food was presented on wooden boards, fries in wire baskets and salads in china bowls with metal cutlery. A higher price applied.

In November 2016, Create Your Taste was replaced by a “Signature Crafted Recipes” program designed to be more efficient and less expensive.[59]

Some locations are connected to gas stations/convenience stores,[60] while others called McExpress have limited seating and/or menu or may be located in a shopping mall. Other McDonald’s are located in Walmart stores. McStop is a location targeted at truckers and travelers which may have services found at truck stops.[61]

In Sweden, customers who order a happy meal can use the meal’s container for a pair of happy goggles.[62] The company created a game for the goggles known as “Slope Stars.[62]” McDonald’s predicts happy goggles will continue in other countries.[62] In the Netherlands, McDonald’s has introduced McTrax that doubles as a recording studio; it reacts to touch.[62] They can create their own beats with a synth and tweak sounds with special effects.[62]

The first kosher McDonald’s was established in 1997 at the Abasto de Buenos Aires mall in Buenos Aires, Argentina. There are also many kosher branches in Israel.[63][64]

McDonald’s playgrounds are called McDonald’s PlayPlace. Some McDonald’s in suburban areas and certain cities feature large indoor or outdoor playgrounds. The first PlayPlace with the familiar crawl-tube design with ball pits and slides was introduced in 1987 in the US, with many more being constructed soon after.

McDonald’s Next use open-concept design and offer “Create Your Taste” digital ordering. The concept store also offering free mobile device charging and table service after 6:00 pm. The first store opened in Hong Kong in December 2015.[65]

In 2006, McDonald’s introduced its “Forever Young” brand by redesigning all of its restaurants, the first major redesign since the 1970s.[66][67]

The goal of the redesign is to be more like a coffee shop, similar to Starbucks. The design includes wooden tables, faux-leather chairs, and muted colors; the red was muted to terracotta, the yellow was shifted to golden for a more “sunny” look, and olive and sage green were also added.

To create a warmer look, the restaurants have less plastic and more brick and wood, with modern hanging lights to produce a softer glow. Many restaurants now feature free Wi-Fi and flat-screen TVs. Other upgrades include double drive-thrus, flat roofs instead of the angled red roofs, and replacing fiber glass with wood. Also, instead of the familiar golden arches, the restaurants now feature “semi-swooshes” (half of a golden arch), similar to the Nike swoosh.[68]

McDonald’s began banning smoking in 1994 when it banned smoking within its 1,400 wholly owned restaurants.[69]

Since the late 1990s, McDonald’s has attempted to replace employees with electronic kiosks which would perform actions such taking orders and accepting money. In 1999, McDonald’s first tested “E-Clerks” in suburban Chicago, Illinois, and Wyoming, Michigan, with the devices being able to “save money on live staffers” and attracting larger purchase amounts than average employees.[70]

In 2013, the University of Oxford estimated that in the succeeding decades, there was a 92% probability of food preparation and serving to become automated in fast food establishments.[71] By 2016, McDonald’s “Create Your Taste” electronic kiosks were seen in some restaurants internationally where customers could custom order meals. As employees pushed for higher wages in the late-2010s, some believed that fast food companies such as McDonald’s would use the devices to cut costs for employing individuals.[72]

On August 5, 2013, The Guardian revealed that 90 percent of McDonald’s UK workforce are on zero hour contracts, making it possibly the largest such private sector employer in the country.[73] A study released by Fast Food Forward conducted by Anzalone Liszt Grove Research showed that approximately 84 percent of all fast food employees working in New York City in April 2013 had been paid less than their legal wages by their employers.[74]

From 2007 to 2011, fast food workers in the US drew an average of $7 billion of public assistance annually resulting from receiving low wages.[75] The McResource website advised employees to break their food into smaller pieces to feel fuller, seek refunds for unopened holiday purchases, sell possessions online for quick cash, and to “quit complaining” as “stress hormone levels rise by 15 percent after ten minutes of complaining.”[76] In December 2013, McDonald’s shut down the McResource website amidst negative publicity and criticism. McDonald’s plans to continue an internal telephone help line through which its employees can obtain advice on work and life problems.[77]

Liberal thinktank the Roosevelt Institute accuses some McDonald’s restaurants of actually paying less than the minimum wage to entry positions due to ‘rampant’ wage theft.[78] In South Korea, McDonald’s pays part-time employees $5.50 an hour and is accused of paying less with arbitrary schedules adjustments and pay delays.[79] In late 2015, Anonymous aggregated data collected by Glassdoor suggests that McDonald’s in the United States pays entry-level employees between $7.25 an hour and $11 an hour, with an average of $8.69 an hour. Shift managers get paid an average of $10.34 an hour. Assistant managers get paid an average of $11.57 an hour.[80] McDonald’s CEO, Steve Easterbrook, currently earns an annual salary of $1,100,000.[81]

McDonald’s workers have on occasions decided to strike over pay, with most of the employees on strike seeking to be paid $15.00.[82] When interviewed about the strikes occurring, former McDonald’s CEO Ed Rensi stated: “It’s cheaper to buy a $35,000 robotic arm than it is to hire an employee who’s inefficient making $15 an hour bagging french fries” with Rensi explaining that increasing employee wages could possibly take away from entry-level jobs.[83] However, according to Easterbrook, increasing wages and benefits for workers saw a 6% increase in customer satisfaction when comparing 2015’s first quarter data to the first quarter of 2016, with greater returns seen as a result.[83]

In September 2017, two British McDonald’s stores agreed to a strike over zero hours contracts for staff. Picket lines were formed around the two stores in Crayford and Cambridge. The strike was supported by the Leader of the Opposition, Jeremy Corbyn.[84][85]

In March 2015, McDonald’s workers in 19 US cities filed 28 health and safety complaints with the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration which allege that low staffing, lack of protective gear, poor training and pressure to work fast has resulted in injuries. The complaints also allege that, because of a lack of first aid supplies, workers were told by management to treat burn injuries with condiments such as mayonnaise and mustard.[86] The Fight for $15 labor organization aided the workers in filing the complaints.[87]

In 2015, McDonald’s pledged to stop using eggs from battery cage facilities by 2025. Since McDonald’s purchases over 2 billion eggs per year or 4 percent of eggs produced in the United States, the switch is expected to have a major impact on the egg industry and is part of a general trend toward cage-free eggs driven by consumer concern over the harsh living conditions of hens.[88][89] The aviary systems from which the new eggs will be sourced are troubled by much higher mortality rates, as well as introducing environmental and worker safety problems.[90] The high hen mortality rate, which is more than double that of battery cage systems, will require new research to mitigate. The facilities also have higher ammonia levels due to faeces being kicked up into the air. Producers raised concerns about the production cost, which is expected to increase by 36 percent.[91]

McDonald’s continues to source pork from facilities that use gestation crates, and in 2012 pledged to phase them out.[92]

McDonald’s has for decades maintained an extensive advertising campaign. In addition to the usual media (television, radio, and newspaper), the company makes significant use of billboards and signage, sponsors sporting events ranging from Little League to the FIFA World Cup and Olympic Games.[93] Television has played a central role in the company’s advertising strategy.[94] To date, McDonald’s has used 23 different slogans in United States advertising, as well as a few other slogans for select countries and regions.[95]

McDonald’s and NASA explored an advertising agreement for a planned mission to the asteroid 449 Hamburga; however, the spacecraft was eventually cancelled.[96]

McDonald’s is the title sponsor of the McDonald’s All-American Game, all-star basketball games played each year for American and Canadian boys’ and girls’ high school basketball graduates.

McHappy Day is an annual event at McDonald’s, where a percentage of the day’s sales go to charity. It is the signature fundraising event for Ronald McDonald House Charities.[97]

According to the Australian McHappy Day website, McHappy Day raised $20.4 million in 2009. The goal for 2010 was $20.8 million.[98]

In 1995, St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital received an anonymous letter postmarked in Dallas, Texas, containing a $1 million winning McDonald’s Monopoly game piece. McDonald’s officials came to the hospital, accompanied by a representative from the accounting firm Arthur Andersen, who examined the card under a jeweler’s eyepiece, handled it with plastic gloves, and verified it as a winner.[99] Although game rules prohibited the transfer of prizes, McDonald’s waived the rule and has made the annual $50,000 annuity payments, even after learning that the piece was sent by an individual involved in an embezzlement scheme intended to defraud McDonald’s (see McDonald’s Monopoly).

McRefugees are poor people in Hong Kong, Japan, and China who use McDonald’s 24-hour restaurants as a temporary hostel. One in five of Hong Kong’s population lives below the poverty line. The rise of McRefugees was first documented by photographer Suraj Katra in 2013.[100]

In 1990, activists from a small group known as London Greenpeace (no connection to the international group Greenpeace) distributed leaflets entitled What’s wrong with McDonald’s?, criticizing its environmental, health, and labor record. The corporation wrote to the group demanding they desist and apologize, and, when two of the activists refused to back down, sued them for libel in one of the longest cases in British civil law. A documentary film of the McLibel Trial has been shown in several countries.[101]

In the late 1980s, Phil Sokolof, a millionaire businessman who had suffered a heart attack at the age of 43, took out full-page newspaper ads in New York, Chicago, and other large cities accusing McDonald’s menu of being a threat to American health, and asking them to stop using beef tallow to cook their french fries.[102]

Despite the objections of McDonald’s, the term “McJob” was added to Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary in 2003.[103] The term was defined as “a low-paying job that requires little skill and provides little opportunity for advancement”.[104]

In 2001, Eric Schlosser’s book Fast Food Nation included criticism of the business practices of McDonald’s. Among the critiques were allegations that McDonald’s (along with other companies within the fast food industry) uses its political influence to increase its profits at the expense of people’s health and the social conditions of its workers. The book also brought into question McDonald’s advertisement techniques in which it targets children. While the book did mention other fast-food chains, it focused primarily on McDonald’s.

In 2002, vegetarian groups, largely Hindu and Buddhist, successfully sued McDonald’s for misrepresenting its French fries as vegetarian, when they contained beef broth.[105]

Morgan Spurlock’s 2004 documentary film Super Size Me claimed that McDonald’s food was contributing to the increase of obesity in society and that the company was failing to provide nutritional information about its food for its customers. Six weeks after the film premiered, McDonald’s announced that it was eliminating the super size option, and was creating the adult Happy Meal.

In 2006, an unsanctioned McDonald’s Video Game by Italian group Molleindustria was released online. It is parody of the business practices of the corporate giant, taking the guise of a tycoon style business simulation game. In the game, the player plays the role of a McDonald’s CEO, choosing whether or not to use controversial practices like genetically altered cow feed, plowing over rainforests, and corrupting public officials. McDonald’s issued a statement distancing itself from the game.[106]

In January 2014, it was reported that McDonald’s was accused of having used a series of tax maneuvers to avoid taxes in France. The company confirmed that tax authorities had visited McDonald’s French headquarters in Paris but insisted that it had not done anything wrong, saying, “McDonald’s firmly denies the accusation made by L’Express according to which McDonald’s supposedly hid part of its revenue from taxes in France.”[107]

In response to public pressure, McDonald’s has sought to include more healthy choices in its menu and has introduced a new slogan to its recruitment posters: “Not bad for a McJob”.[108] The word McJob, first attested in the mid-1980s[103] and later popularized by Canadian novelist Douglas Coupland in his book Generation X, has become a buzz word for low-paid, unskilled work with few prospects or benefits and little security. McDonald’s disputes this definition of McJob. In 2007, the company launched an advertising campaign with the slogan “Would you like a career with that?” on Irish television, asserting that its jobs have good prospects.

In an effort to respond to growing consumer awareness of food provenance, the fast-food chain changed its supplier of both coffee beans and milk. UK chief executive Steve Easterbrook said: “British consumers are increasingly interested in the quality, sourcing, and ethics of the food and drink they buy”.[109] In a bid to tap into the ethical consumer market,[110] McDonald’s switched to using coffee beans taken from stocks that are certified by the Rainforest Alliance, a conservation group. Additionally, in response to pressure, McDonald’s UK started using organic milk supplies for its bottled milk and hot drinks, although it still uses conventional milk in its milkshakes, and in all of its dairy products in the United States.[111] According to a report published by Farmers Weekly in 2007, the quantity of milk used by McDonald’s could have accounted for as much as 5 percent of the UK’s organic milk output.[112]

McDonald’s announced on May 22, 2008, that, in the United States and Canada, it would switch to using cooking oil that contains no trans fats for its french fries, and canola-based oil with corn and soy oils, for its baked items, pies and cookies, by year’s end.[113][114]

With regard to acquiring chickens from suppliers who use CAK/CAS methods of slaughter, McDonald’s says that it needs to see more research “to help determine whether any CAS system in current use is optimal from an animal welfare perspective.”[115]

In April 2008, McDonald’s announced that 11 of its Sheffield, England restaurants have been engaged in a biomass trial that had cut its waste and carbon footprint by half in the area. In this trial, wastes from the restaurants were collected by Veolia Environmental Services and were used to produce energy at a power plant. McDonald’s plans to expand this project, although the lack of biomass power plants in the United States will prevent this plan from becoming a national standard anytime soon.[116] In addition, in Europe, McDonald’s has been recycling vegetable grease by converting it to fuel for its diesel trucks.[117]

McDonald’s has been using a corn-based bioplastic to produce containers for some of its products. The environmental benefits of this technology are controversial, with critics noting that biodegradation is slow, produces greenhouse gases and that contamination of traditional plastic waste streams with bioplastics can complicate recycling efforts.[118]

In 1990, McDonald’s worked with the Environmental Defense Fund to stop using “clam shell” shaped styrofoam food containers to house its food products.[119] 20 years later, McDonald’s announced they would try replacing styrofoam coffee cups with an alternative material.[120]

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has recognized McDonald’s continuous effort to reduce solid waste by designing more efficient packaging and by promoting the use of recycled-content materials.[121] McDonald’s reports that it is committed towards environmental leadership by effectively managing electric energy, by conserving natural resources through recycling and reusing materials, and by addressing water management issues within the restaurant.[122]

In an effort to reduce energy usage by 25 percent in its restaurants, McDonald’s opened a prototype restaurant in Chicago in 2009 with the intention of using the model in its other restaurants throughout the world. Building on past efforts, specifically a restaurant it opened in Sweden in 2000 that was the first to intentionally incorporate green ideas, McDonald’s designed the Chicago site to save energy by incorporating old and new ideas such as managing storm water, using skylights for more natural lighting and installing some partitions and tabletops made from recycled goods.[123]

When McDonald’s received criticism for its environmental policies in the 1970s, it began to make substantial progress in reducing its use of materials.[124] For instance, an “average meal” in the 1970sa Big Mac, fries, and a drinkrequired 46grams of packaging; today, it requires only 25grams, allowing a 46 percent reduction.[125] In addition, McDonald’s eliminated the need for intermediate containers for cola by having a delivery system that pumps syrup directly from the delivery truck into storage containers, saving two million pounds (910 tonnes) of packaging annually.[126] Overall, weight reductions in packaging and products, as well as the increased usage of bulk packaging ultimately decreased packaging by twenty-four million pounds (11,000 tonnes) annually.[127]

McDonald’s has been involved in a number of lawsuits and other legal cases, most of which involved trademark disputes. The company has threatened many food businesses with legal action unless it drops the Mc or Mac from trading names.

On September 8, 2009, McDonald’s Malaysian operations lost a lawsuit to prevent another restaurant calling itself McCurry. McDonald’s lost in an appeal to Malaysia’s highest court, the Federal Court.[128]

In April 2007, in Perth, Western Australia, McDonald’s pleaded guilty to five charges relating to the employment of children under 15 in one of its outlets and was fined A$8,000.[129]

In 2016, the Australian Taxation Office revealed that McDonald’s Asia-Pacific Consortium had generated $478 million in revenue in 201314, but had paid no tax on those earnings whatsoever.[130]

The longest running legal action of all time in the UK was the McLibel case against 2 defendants who criticized a number of aspects of the company. The trial lasted 10 years and called 130 witnesses. The European Court of Human Rights deemed that the unequal resources of the litigants breached the defendants rights to freedom of speech and biased the trial. The result was widely seen as a “PR disaster.”[131]

A famous legal case in the US involving McDonald’s was the 1994 decision in Liebeck v. McDonald’s Restaurants where Stella Liebeck was awarded several million dollars after she suffered third-degree burns after spilling a scalding cup of McDonald’s coffee on herself.[132]

In April 2014, it was reported that McDonald’s in Europe will use chicken meat that was produced by using genetically modified animal feed. Greenpeace argues that McDonald’s saves less than one Eurocent for each chicken burger and goes down a path not desired by its customers.[133]

Last week, renowned anti-racist advocate, Tim Wise, came to UMass for a screening of his new documentary, White Like Me, followed by a question and answer period with the audience. I wont go into details about the actual documentary, yall can check that on your own time, but during the post-screening period, Wise was confronted about some online beef that occurred after a post on his blog in remembrance of the 50th anniversary of the Birmingham 16th Street Church bombing that killed 4 African-American girls on September 16th, 1963. His post not only acknowledges the tragedy, but also pays tribute to a man named Charles Morgan, Jr, a white southerner who lived in Birmingham at the time, but who opposed the bombings and was ultimately chased out of the South because of his willingness to speak out against racism.

Following the post, a stream of opposition came. In general, they criticized Wises emphasis on the need for white allies. After all, they said, if it wasnt for white people making the lives so hard for Black-Americans to begin with, they wouldnt need white partnership in the first place. Wise retaliated to the responses through his Facebook page, the status update wasnt so friendly.

Wise admitted to the audience at UMass that he was wrong for how he reacted, saying that he is only human, and he cant be perfect all the time. Once the applause ended after the apology, a man of color rose and told his own story of dealing with anger. He was a professor at Hampshire College, from the Bronx, and he explained how living in western Massachusetts is never easy for men of color. He told Wise of the discrimination he deals with on a regular basis. Despite being a college professor, it was the color of his skin that was seen first, and it would always put him in a disadvantage. Any man of color knows, he said, that we dont get the luxury of being only human, because being of color, any outburst could be your lastyou dont need to read a James Baldwin novel to come to that realization.

Tim Wise, a renowned expert on white privilege, could recognize he was a product of white privilege, but he could never fully understand how it manifested itself in his own life. If I he could, then he would never have been so openly accepting of the fact that he can have angry outbursts over issues as sensitive as the Birmingham bombing, and so easily get applause over it.

It was a year ago on my college campus when I had first met Tim Wise. I had no idea how famous Tim was, I had never heard of him before. As I sat down to hear him speak to a packed auditorium, I was impressed and unimpressed all in one. I remember being amused by his delivery, you cannot deny he wouldnt fair too badly as a stand up comedian. He has a way of fusing irony and raw facts through stating just the obvious reality. That is always refreshing to hear from someone who isnt of color. But then that becomes the real issue: Tim Wise isnt a person of color. What he was saying wasnt anything new or profound, but it was the fact that he was white which was why people gave him so much praise. So to put it ironically: In the same way Tim Wise goes around raising awareness on white privilege, he also benefits from itheis white privilege.

At the end of the lecture, a friend who helped organized the event asked if I would go with him to take Tim to the airport. I couldnt turn down an opportunity to get some one one one with Tim Wise after hearing everything he just said. We covered a lot of ground in that 40-minute car ride. He told me about where he grew up, what he studied in college, why he does the work he does, he even told me how he met his wife. We talked about my own studies, intellectual curiosities, and some of the research I was currently working on. It was an inspirational car ride, one that influenced the direction of a lot of the research I did that semester, along with many of the things I write on this blog.

And then he did admit what I had been thinking all along: that his whiteness was the reason for his success. He knew why he was getting called to speak all over the country. He knew why he was able to get through to white people. He was aware of his whiteness, and how that created so many privileges that automatically put him ahead of blacks who were saying much of the very same things he was, and who were also working in the field of anti-racism. And for me, my criticism of Wise doesnt come from the fact that he is a white guy discussing racism. Its how he utilizes his whiteness. He continually makes mention of how he is a white ally for Black America, and then goes on to expect us to give him a gold star. As stated in the blog GroupThink:

Its great that that guy stood up for what was right, but to try to piggy back on a very significant and painful part of AA history to sing the praises of a white guy who did the right things is missing the point. Its great he did that. Its awesome, but he doesnt get a cookie. Why is it so hard for people to understand that you dont get applause for being a decent person?

I dont have issues with Tim Wise wanting to stand up against racism, its quite commendable when anyonewhite or blackstands up for racial justice. My issues are with the fact of how righteously he goes about parading his whiteness when speaking about these issues, and then expects us to view him as some kind of white knight.

I dont care if he goes around speaking to large audiences, its the fact that he has become more than just a spokesperson on white privilege and that he feels he can also become a spokesperson for Black America, as well. I dont have any inner-conflicts being upset when people ask Tim Wise to speak on national television over issues of race when there is a sea of well qualified black scholars who can say the same things Tim says, if not better.

My words to Tim Wise: Black-America could use a few white allies, but we dont need white leaders attempting to claim some sort of moral medal for doing what every human being should be expected to do: the right thing.

Once again pretending to be White as he does when it suits him in order to engage in propaganda aimed at Whites, rabid Jew Tim Wise demands that all people, especially all White people, choose a side in what he calls this new Civil War.

Okay.

Be careful what you ask for, kike.

And if its adherents cannot be deprogrammed, then they must be defeated, without the least bit of sentimentality.In fact, you know what very fine people would do to neo-Nazis? They would yell at them. And yes, they might even mace them or punch them in the mouth. Very fine people detest Nazis. In fact, detesting Nazis might be a bona fide requirement the de minimus definition for being considered a very fine personBecause see, now it is time for us to choose a side if we havent already, and to recommit to the fight.

Earlier this year, the Population and Immigration Authority sent the Prime Ministers Office an official letter stating that an additional 1,000 Ethiopian Jews meet Israels criteria for making Aliyah. This was revealed on Monday at a meeting of the Knesset State Control Committee, chaired by MK Shelly Yachimovich (Zionist Camp), which was convened to debate the fate of 8,000 Jews who remain stranded in Ethiopia, unable to make Aliyah.

The positive result of todays meeting is that we received a very clear commitment to bring those 1,000 Jews to Israel, MK Yachimovich said. We heard from the Population and Immigration Authority and the Prime Ministers Office that the matter will be approved during a Government meeting within a month, and I believe it will be approved. If we see that there are delays, we will call an urgent meeting to expedite matters.

Nevertheless, according to Yachimovich, despite this good news, it is unacceptable, from a moral and Zionist standpoint, that thousands of Jews remain in transit camps, in poor conditions, while their qualification as Jews is being examined with much more thoroughness than in cases of Jews from other countries.

Yachimovich insisted that all the remaining Ethiopian Jews must be brought to Israel at once. We are a strong and stable country, we constantly hear that our situation could not be better and how many budget surpluses are in the States treasury, she said, therefore we have the ability and the means to end this saga, which is creating a deep fissure in the Ethiopian Israeli community.

Prof. Shlomo Mor-Yosef, director general of Population and Immigration Authority, told the committee that there is a question [] regarding the Jewishness of those in Ethiopia, and because of this the State has decided that those who are still in Ethiopia will not make Aliyah under the Law of Return. Since then, we have been dealing with Aliyah quotas. I wish to stress that the employees of the Interior Ministry are not racists; we are operating in accordance with the Governments decision and we do not set the policy.

MK Avraham Neguise (Likud) said that in Addis Ababa and Gondar, in Ethiopia, there are at least 1,000 people who meet the criteria set by the Government. A proper examination will find that even more people are eligible, he said. At the Interior Ministry there are some 5,000 requests which have yet to be processed.

A representative of the Struggle for the Aliyah of Ethiopian Jewry organization, a former soldier in the IDF special force Duvdevan unit, told the committee that most of his family made Aliyah together, but two of his sisters remained in Ethiopia.

They were told they could not make Aliyah with us, and we have been waiting for them since 2007, he said. One of my sisters has since been widowed, and my other sister recently married. These are significant events in their lives, but we could not share them because they are not permitted to make Aliyah. Thousands of Jews are waiting there in poor conditions for the Government to bring them to Israel.

MK Omer Barlev (Zionist Camp) said, How can the term quotas be used when we are dealing with human beings? The country is strong, and it cannot be that a few thousand people cant be brought to Israel all at once.

MK Meir Cohen (Yesh Atid) said, There is a population which is waiting in difficult conditions to make Aliyah. Why are they not being brought to Israel under the Law of Return?

In 1973 the Israeli Ministry of Absorption prepared a comprehensive report on the Jewish-Ethiopian community, which stated that they were foreign in all aspects to the Jewish nation. The report concluded that there was no need to take action in order to help the ethnic group make Aliyah to Israel. This was going to be the end of the Falasha hopes to return to Zion. But shortly after the Ministrys report had been published, Rabbi Ovadia Yosef, the Sephardi chief rabbi, decreed that the Ethiopian Jews are a descendant tribe of Israel.

The chief rabbi also said that giving them a proper Jewish education and the right to immigrate to Israel was a Mitzvah.

This contradicted the position of Rabbi Shlomo Goren, the Ashkenazi chief rabbi, who expressed grave doubts as to the validity of their Jewish lineage.

Rabbi Yosefs ruling resulted in the Law of Return being applied to the Ethiopian community, never mind the Ministry of Absorptions report and never mind Chief Rabbi Goren. Starting in the mid-1970s, a massive Aliyah effort brought close to 100,000 Ethiopian Jews to Israel.

Those who have been refused entry belong largely to the Falash Mura community, which converted to Christianity in the 19th and 20th century, but which maintained familial ties with the Jewish Beta Israel community.

At least 1,000 Ethiopian Jews still living in Ethiopia will be able to immigrate to Israel in the coming year, after the Prime Ministers Office and the Interior Ministry said on Monday they had worked out an initial list of potential immigrants and expected to approve them within four weeks.

There are approximately8,000 Jews in Ethiopiawith close relatives in Israel who are waiting to emigrate.

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The last flight of Ethiopian immigrants arrived in Israel on December 28, 2017, bringing part of the 1,300 immigrants which arrived in 2017. But the cabinet did not approve the approximately NIS 200 million needed to absorb the 1,300 immigrants planned to arrive 2018, putting a hold on the flights.

I am serving the state and fighting the state at the same time, Belaynich Indishu, who was a soldier in the Duvduvan combat unit and now works in security for the government, told the Knesset meeting on Monday. Indishu moved to Israel in 2007 and has two sisters still in Ethiopia. For what? So that I cant be with my sisters?

MK Shelly Yachimovich (Labor), chairwoman of the State Control Committee which held the meeting, praised the announcement as an achievement.

A member of the Falash Mura Jewish Ethiopian community lights the Sabbath candles before the Sabbath and Passover prayer service in the synagogue in Gondar, Ethiopia, April 22, 2016. (Miriam Alster/FLASH90)

The suffering of 6,000 people in Gondar and Addis Ababa goes on for no apparent reason, she said. Were not talking about budget issues but ethical issues. There are forces in the government that are not interested in bringing them to Israel because they do not consider them Jewish, and the motivation here, unfortunately, is racism.

Shlomo Mor-Yosef, the director general of the Population Immigration and Borders Authority, the branch of the Interior Ministry dealing with this issue, said that the Interior Ministrys employees were not racists but were simply implementing the governments decisions.

He said the group expected to immigrate to Israel in 2018 will consist of approximately 1,000 parents and children, focusing on parents who already have some children in Israel.

The process for immigration approval has beenplagued by accusations of racism and inefficiencyagainst the Interior Ministry, and there was asix-month delayin the flights in 2017.

In November 2015, the government announced it would bring to Israel the remaining Ethiopian Jews awaiting immigration. The Finance Ministry allocated money for 1,300 Ethiopians to immigrate in 2017, the first step of a five-year program to bring new immigrants at a rate of approximately 100 per month.

Young boys of the Falash Mura Jewish Ethiopian community wait for prayer service in the synagogue in Gondar, Ethiopia, April 22, 2016 (Miriam Alster/FLASH90)

The Jews left behind in Ethiopia are classified as Falashmura, a term for Ethiopian Jews whose ancestors converted to Christianity, often under duress, generations ago.

Because the Interior Ministry does not consider the Falashmura to be Jewish, they cannot immigrate under the Law of Return and therefore must get special permission from the government to move to Israel. Critics fear that tens of thousands of Ethiopians could claim eligibility under this process.

The community counters that theprocess to determine their Jewishness was poorly executed and inaccurate, dividing families. At least 80 percent of the Jews in Ethiopia have first-degree relatives living in Israel, they say.

Family members greet new arrivals from Ethiopia at Ben Gurion Airport on June 6, 2017. (Miriam Alster/Flash90)

In August 2013, the government announced the end of Ethiopian immigration, claiming that all Ethiopian Jews were now in Israel. Since that time, the Jewish Agency withdrew its funding from the community synagogue in Gondar, canceling a nutrition program for children and at one point even removing the towns Torah scroll.

Although the government unanimouslyapproved the immigration of all the remaining Jewsfrom Ethiopia in November 2015, the decisionfaltered three months laterwhen the Prime Ministers Office refused to implement the program because the NIS 1 billion ($284 million) it said was needed to fund the absorption process was not in the state budget.

Why is there interest in studying languages? To answer this important question, Noam Chomsky proposed linguistic theories. Chomskys language acquisition theories are the most important in the world of linguistics.

One of the greatest linguists of all times, Noam Chomsky asserts that language is innate. He wrote his famous book, Language and Mind” in 1972, in which he proposed his famous theories on language acquisition. In this book Chomsky wrote, When we study human language, we are approaching what some might call the ‘human essence,’ the distinctive qualities of mind that are, so far as we know, unique to man.” According to Chomsky, language is one characteristic that is unique to humans among all other living beings. Chomskys theories have made it easier to understand the evolution and development of the languages.

Chomsky’s theories on language are based upon the importance of linguistics in modern sciences. According to him, to study languages, it is important study human nature that lies in human mind.

Noam Chomsky postulated that the mechanism of the language acquisition is derived from the innate processes. Innate is something which is already there in mind since birth. The theory proposed by Chomsky is proved by the children living in same linguistic community. Moreover, they are not influenced by the external experiences which bring about the comparable grammar. He thus proposed his theory on language acquisition in 1977 as “all children share the same internal constraints which characterize narrowly the grammar they are going to construct.” He also proposed that all of us live in a biological world, and according to him, mental world is no exception. He also believes that as there are stages of development for other parts of the body, language development can also be achieved up to a certain age.

Another postulate of Chomsky’s language acquisition theory is the process of selecting the best grammar that matches with the data available. He related the structural linguistics with empiricist thoughts.

When talking about generative grammar, his views are different from structuralist theory. According to Chomsky, generative grammar should render explicit the implicit knowledge of the speaker.” He proposed a set of well-defined rules to generate required sequence of words. Individuals instantly decipher that a certain combination of words make sense and different combination does not make sense. The explanatory theory of generative grammar is beautifully demonstrated by the rules of the English auxiliary system.

According to Chomsky, the field of linguistics does not include the study of meaning and reference and the use of language. According to linguistic theory, the concepts of the grammar are not based upon semantics, but linguistic theory should provide an explanation to the semantic phenomenon.

Chomsky rejects the idea that human mind is a clean slate at birth and is filled in by experience. He suggested that the there are components of mind which are innately determined about languages and other systems of knowledge.

Conservative provocateur Milo Yiannopoulos has had another campus speech cancelled, only this time it was college Republicans who pulled the plug.

The UCLA Bruin Republicans nixed the event Wednesday, just one day after announcing that Mr. Yiannopoulos would appear Feb. 26 to deliver a speech entitled, 10 Things I Hate About Mexico.

The invitation ignited an outcry, including an open letter from UCLA associate professor Gabriel Rossman, who has supported the Bruin Republicans but said he would disassociate himself from the student group if it went ahead with the event.

The campus organization said it decided to disinvite Mr. Yiannopoulos over dissension within its ranks.

The decision to host Milo has polarized the leadership of the organization between those wishing to move forward with the event and those who wish to cancel it, said the Bruin Republicans in a Wednesday post on Facebook.

The club recently hosted climate skeptic Alex Epstein, author of The Moral Case for Fossil Fuels, while conservative author Dinesh DSouza spoke in January at an event hosted by the UCLA Freedom Coalition.

In order for an organization to be able to function properly, it must do so with the unequivocal support of all its members, said the clubs notice. This does not mean that we all must agree 100% on all issues but we must have at least a clear majority. Consequently, we have decided not to move forward with the event.

Mr. Yiannopoulos was disappointed by the cancellation. I despair at the trajectory of Californian universities. Even the students who describe themselves as Republicans seem hopelessly lost and weak, he said on Facebook.

He also vowed to continue arranging speeches in California. His February 2017 talk at the University of California Berkeley was abruptly cancelled after leftist protesters rioted, setting fires and causing $100,000 in damage to the campus.

Unlike previous generations of conservative and libertarian activists I refuse to simply hand over the keys to the wacko left, Mr. Yiannopoulos said. In the meantime I urge parents to reconsider sending your kids to these schools. Theyre not getting educated theyre getting indoctrinated.

Chancellor Gene Block praised the decision to rescind the invitation. I hope we will all continue to resist such provocations and nurture our campus culture, which values ideas over hatred, he said in a campus email, as reported by the Daily Bruin.

Mr. Rossman was also pleased. That the university respects free speech rights and that it was the clubs decision to make, is just as important as the outcome, he said in a post on the Weekly Standard.

Youd be dead wrong because Flaherty, a Wilmington, DE talk show host and superb journalist, has a follow-up book: Dont Make the Black Kids Angry: The hoax of black victimization and those who enable it (Createspace Independent Publishing Platform, 524 pages, exhaustive sourcing of examples, links to videos, quality paperback, $23.78, also available in a $6.99 Kindle ebook from Amazon.com). The title of Flahertys latest book Im guessing it wont be the last from Flaherty on the politically incorrect subject comes from a quote by former Kansas City MO mayor Emanuel Cleaver. Cleaver is now a congressman. Kansas City like just about every city in the country has been plagued by fighting and wilding committed by young black men and more than a few women. Their favorite venue in Kansas City is the upscale Country Club Plaza, which has been called the nations first suburban shopping center. Shopping centers and movie theaters are popular venues for blacks fighting, as are nightclubs, gatherings of black college fraternities, events like a gathering of black motorcyclists in places like Myrtle Beach, SC (Im not making that up!) and other urban events in Indianapolis, Miami Beach and other cities. I was momentarily surprised to see my alma mater, Northern Illinois University in DeKalb, in the new book, as Flaherty recounts incidents of blacks roaming fraternity row, seeking to get into parties. I shouldnt be surprised to see NIU involved with black on white or in the case of one fraternity row incident, black on Hispanic violence. DeKalb is only about 60 miles west of Chicago, where whites and Asians are frequent victims of black thugs, Flaherty writes. Heres what Flaherty has to say about a subject that most mainstream newspapers and TV stations wish they didnt have to cover. When they do cover the crimes, the race of the perpetrators is almost never used. It shows up in the website comments on stories, but is often removed, Flaherty says. Instead of race, news outlets employ euphemisms like teens and youths or dont even use any term. Heres what the author has to say about his eye-opening (unless a thug uses the Knock Out Game to close it!) book: Black people are relentless victims of relentless white violence, often at the end of a badge for No Reason What So Ever.That is the biggest lie of our generation. Because just the opposite is true. War on black people, anyone? Black crime and violence against whites, gays, women, seniors, young people and lots of others is astronomically out of proportion. It just wont quit. Neither will the excuses. Or the denials. Or the black on white hostility. Or those who encourage it. That is what Dont Make the Black Kids Angry is about. In 2013, more and more people began to figure out that the traditional excuses jobs, poverty, schooling, whatever for black crime and mayhem were not really working any more. Now they have a new excuse. The ultimate excuse: White racism is everywhere. White racism is permanent. White racism explains everything. And right away, you can see the enormous difference between what they said happened. And what really happened. * You will read about a young mother with two children who found a group of black people burglarizing her home. After she called police, large groups of black people taunted, harassed, vandalized, threatened, and finally burned down her house. All while police shrugged their shoulder and said there was not much they could do. Hard to believe, youll get a link to this 911 call, and you can hear it for yourself. * Youll learn about the massive black on Asian violence against more than 1000 recent Asian immigrants that city officials blamed on Asian naivette and said that was not unusual because it happens to all immigrants. * Youll read about about 40,000 black people destroying a tourist town because some said they did not feel welcome. * Well see examples of widespread black mob violence in small towns. And in bigger places where people pride themselves on racial tolerance. And what about the virulent black mob violence on Memorial Day, the Fourth of July, even Christmas. Well see how widespread that is, how it has been happening for a long time. And all the time will see how local media deny, ignore, condone, encourage, even lie about it. * Well visit college campuses, where students are soft targets. Well learn how black student groups hate it when school records show that violent crime and robbery in and around campus is a black thing. * We document large scale black mob violence at movie theaters and malls. And observe the enormous difference between what they say happened, and what the video show really happened. * Well see how black on white racial hostility in taught in thousands of schools around the country. How children learn that white racism is everywhere. All the time. And explains everything. * Well go into the inner chambers of the Society of Professional Journalists, and how they tell their members how to cover black crime and violence: Dont. * Well take a look at Black History Month, and how it is remembered with violence and denial. * And we will meet the victims, one after another. And more and more and more examples of black mob violence from around the country until denial is no longer an option. All written without racism. Or rancor. Or apologies. My work has appeared in more than 1000 news sites around the world, including the New York Times, Los Angeles Times, San Diego Union-Tribune, NPR and many, many more. My story on how a black man was unjustly convicted of trying to kill his white girl friend resulted in his release from state prison. And was featured on NPR and Court TV. Dont Make the Back Kids Angry breaks new ground, with new stories of black mob violence and black on white crime. When you are finished, you might have some causes and solutions, but you will definitely have no reason to deny the existence of this epidemic of crime and violence. Endorsements of Flahertys previous book Thomas Sowell: Reading Colin Flahertys book made painfully clear to me that the magnitude of this problem is greater than I had discovered from my own research. He documents both the race riots and the media and political evasions in dozens of cities. Sowell is an African-American. Sean Hannity: White Girl Bleed a Lot has gone viral. Los Angeles Times: a favorite of conservative voices. {The ultra-liberal L.A. Times, where I worked from 1976 to 1990, rarely if ever uses racial identification in its stories}. Allen West: At least author Colin Flaherty is tackling this issue (of racial violence) in his new book, White Girl Bleed a Lot: The Return of Racial Violence to America and How the Media Ignore it. West is an African-American. My advice to anyone sitting down to read this book and Flahertys previous one: be prepared to be shocked and disgusted and to be able to withstand excuses by members of the black journalism society, wacky professors and cops in denial. Youll also find emails to Flaherty from veteran police officers and a link to a police site in Chicago that tells it like it is. About the AuthorColin Flaherty is an award winning writer whose work has been published in more than 1000 places around the globe, including the New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Boston Globe, Miami Herald, Washington Post, Bloomberg Business Week, Time magazine, and others. He is the author of the Amazon #1 Best Seller: White Girl Bleed a Lot: The Return of Racial Violence and How the Media Ignore It. And Dont Make the Black Kids Angry: The Hoax of Black Victimization and Those Who Enable It. As a reporter, he won more than 40 journalism awards, including Best Investigative from the Society of Professional Journalists in San Diego for a story that resulted in the release of an unjustly convicted black man from prison. This case was also featured on Court TV, the Los Angeles Times and other media outlets. He lives in Wilmington, Delaware, where he (along with his liberal brother ) hosts a talk show on WDEL radio.

McDonald’sPublicTradedasISINUS5801351017IndustryRestaurantsGenreFast food restaurantFoundedMcDonald’s: May15, 1940; 77 years ago(1940-05-15)San Bernardino, CaliforniaMcDonald’s Corporation: April15, 1955; 62 years ago(1955-04-15)Des Plaines, IllinoisFoundersMcDonald’s: Richard and Maurice McDonaldMcDonald’s Corporation: Ray KrocHeadquartersOak Brook, Illinois, U.S. (moving to Chicago in 2018)[1] Number of locations Area served Key people Number of employees corporate.mcdonalds.com/mcd.htmlwww.mcdonalds.com/us/en-us.html McDonald’s is a fast food company that was founded in 1940 as a restaurant operated by Richard and Maurice McDonald, in San Bernardino, California, United States. They rechristened their business as a hamburger stand. The first time a McDonald’s franchise used the Golden Arches logo was in 1953 at a location in Phoenix, Arizona. In 1955, Ray Kroc, a businessman, joined the company as a franchise agent and proceeded to purchase the chain from the McDonald brothers. McDonald’s had its original headquarters in Oak Brook, Illinois, but has approved plans to move its global headquarters to Chicago by 2018.[4][5] McDonald’s is the world’s largest restaurant chain by revenue[6], serving over 69 million customers daily in over 100 countries[7] across approximately 36,900 outlets as of 2016.[8] Although McDonald’s is known for its hamburgers, they also sell cheeseburgers, chicken products, french fries, breakfast items, soft drinks, milkshakes, wraps, and desserts. In response to changing consumer tastes and a negative backlash because of the unhealthiness of their food,[9] the company has added to its menu salads, fish, smoothies, and fruit. The McDonald’s Corporation revenues come from the rent, royalties, and fees paid by the franchisees, as well as sales in company-operated restaurants. According to a BBC report published in 2012, McDonald’s is the world’s second largest private employer (behind Walmart with 1.9 million employees), 1.5 million of whom work for franchises. The siblings Richard and Maurice McDonald opened in 1940 the first McDonald’s at 1398 North E Street at West 14th Street in San Bernardino, California (at 340732N 1171741W / 34.1255N 117.2946W / 34.1255; -117.2946) but it was not the McDonald’s recognizable today; Ray Kroc made changes to the brothers business that modernized it. The brothers introduced the “Speedee Service System” in 1948, putting into expanded use the principles of the modern fast-food restaurant that their predecessor White Castle had put into practice more than two decades earlier.[citation needed]. The original mascot of McDonald’s was a chef hat on top of a hamburger who was referred to as “Speedee”. In 1962, the Golden Arches replaced Speedee as the universal mascot. The symbol, Ronald McDonald, was introduced in 1965. The clown, Ronald McDonald, appeared in advertising to target their audience of children.[10] On May 4, 1961, McDonald’s first filed for a U.S. trademark on the name “McDonald’s” with the description “Drive-In Restaurant Services”, which continues to be renewed. By September 13, 1961, McDonald’s under the guidance of Ray Kroc, filed for a trademark on a new logoan overlapping, double-arched “M” symbol. But before the double arches, McDonald’s used the a single arch for the architecture of their buildings. Although the “Golden Arches” logo appeared in various forms, the present version was not used until November 18, 1968, when the company was favored a U.S. trademark. The present corporation credits its founding to franchised businessman Ray Kroc in on April 15, 1955, this was in fact the ninth opened McDonald’s restaurant overall; although this location was destroyed and rebuilt in 1984. Kroc later purchased the McDonald brothers’ equity in the company and begun the companies worldwide reach. Kroc was recorded as being an aggressive business partner, driving the McDonald brothers out of the industry. Kroc and the McDonald brothers fought for control of the business, as documented in Kroc’s autobiography. The San Bernardino restaurant was eventually torn down (1971, according to Juan Pollo) and the site was sold to the Juan Pollo chain in 1976. This area now serves as headquarters for the Juan Pollo chain, and a McDonald’s and Route 66 museum.[11] With the expansion of McDonald’s into many international markets, the company has become a symbol of globalization and the spread of the American way of life. Its prominence has also made it a frequent topic of public debates about obesity, corporate ethics, and consumer responsibility. McDonald’s restaurants are found in 120 countries and territories around the world and serve 68 million customers each day.[12][13] McDonald’s operates 36,899 restaurants worldwide, employing more than 375,000 people as of the end of 2016.[8][12] There are currently a total of 5,669 company-owned locations and 31,230 franchised locations, which includes 21,559 locations franchised to conventional franchisees, 6,300 locations licensed to developmental licensees, and 3,371 locations licensed to foreign affiliates, primarily Japan.[8] Focusing on its core brand, McDonald’s began divesting itself of other chains it had acquired during the 1990s. The company owned a majority stake in Chipotle Mexican Grill until October 2006, when McDonald’s fully divested from Chipotle through a stock exchange.[14][15] Until December 2003, it also owned Donatos Pizza, and it owned a small share of Aroma Cafe from 1999 to 2001. On August 27, 2007, McDonald’s sold Boston Market to Sun Capital Partners.[16] Notably, McDonald’s has increased shareholder dividends for 25 consecutive years,[17] making it one of the S&P 500 Dividend Aristocrats.[18][19] In October 2012, its monthly sales fell for the first time in nine years.[20] In 2014, its quarterly sales fell for the first time in seventeen years, when its sales dropped for the entirety of 1997.[21] In the United States, it is reported that drive-throughs account for 70 percent of sales.[22][23] McDonald’s closed down 184 restaurants in the United States in 2015, which was 59 more than what they planned to open.[24][25] This move was also the first time McDonald’s had a net decrease in the number of locations in the United States since 1970.[25] The company currently owns all the land, valued at an estimated $16 to $18 billion, on which its restaurants are situated.[citation needed] The company earns a significant portion of its revenue from rental payments from franchisees. These rent payments rose 26 percent between 2010 and 2015, accounting for one-fifth of the company’s total revenue at the end of the period.[26] In recent times, there have been calls to spin off the company’s US holdings into a potential real estate investment trust, but the company announced at its investor conference on November 10, 2015, that this would not happen. The CEO, Steve Easterbrook discussed that pursuing the REIT option would pose too large a risk to the company’s business model.[27] The United Kingdom and Ireland business model is different from the U.S, in that fewer than 30 percent of restaurants are franchised, with the majority under the ownership of the company. McDonald’s trains its franchisees and management at Hamburger University in Oak Brook, Illinois.[28][29] In other countries, McDonald’s restaurants are operated by joint ventures of McDonald’s Corporation and other, local entities or governments.[30] According to Fast Food Nation by Eric Schlosser (2001), nearly one in eight workers in the U.S. have at some time been employed by McDonald’s. Employees are encouraged by McDonald’s Corp. to maintain their health by singing along to their favorite songs in order to relieve stress, attending church services in order to have a lower blood pressure, and taking two vacations annually in order to reduce risk for myocardial infarction.[31] Fast Food Nation also states that McDonald’s is the largest private operator of playgrounds in the U.S., as well as the single largest purchaser of beef, pork, potatoes, and apples. The selection of meats McDonald’s uses varies to some extent based on the culture of the host country.[32] The McDonald’s headquarters complex, McDonald’s Plaza, is located in Oak Brook, Illinois. It sits on the site of the former headquarters and stabling area of Paul Butler, the founder of Oak Brook.[33] McDonald’s moved into the Oak Brook facility from an office within the Chicago Loop in 1971.[34] On June 13, 2016, McDonald’s confirmed plans to move its global headquarters to Chicago’s West Loop neighborhood in the Near West Side. The 608,000-square-foot structure will be built on the former site of Harpo Productions (where the Oprah Winfrey Show and several other Harpo productions taped) and open in early 2018.[4][5] As of November 2014, the board of directors had the following members:[35] On March 1, 2015, after being chief brand officer of McDonald’s and its former head in the UK and northern Europe, Steve Easterbrook became CEO, succeeding Don Thompson, who stepped down on January 28, 2015. McDonald’s has become emblematic of globalization, sometimes referred to as the “McDonaldization” of society. The Economist newspaper uses the “Big Mac Index”: the comparison of a Big Mac’s cost in various world currencies can be used to informally judge these currencies’ purchasing power parity. Switzerland has the most expensive Big Mac in the world as of July 2015, while the country with the least expensive Big Mac is India[36][37] (albeit for a Maharaja Macthe next cheapest Big Mac is Hong Kong).[38] Thomas Friedman once said that no country with a McDonald’s had gone to war with another.[39][40] However, the “Golden Arches Theory of Conflict Prevention” is not strictly true. Exceptions are the 1989 United States invasion of Panama, NATO’s bombing of Serbia in 1999, the 2006 Lebanon War, and the 2008 South Ossetia war. McDonald’s suspended operations in its corporate-owned stores in Crimea after Russia annexed the region in 2014.[41] On August 20, 2014, as tensions between the United States and Russia strained over events in Ukraine, and the resultant U.S. sanctions, the Russian government temporarily shut down four McDonald’s outlets in Moscow, citing sanitary concerns. The company has operated in Russia since 1990 and at August 2014 had 438 stores across the country.[42] On August 23, 2014, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Arkady Dvorkovich ruled out any government move to ban McDonald’s and dismissed the notion that the temporary closures had anything to do with the sanctions.[43] Some observers have suggested that the company should be given credit for increasing the standard of service in markets that it enters. A group of anthropologists in a study entitled Golden Arches East[44] looked at the impact McDonald’s had on East Asia and Hong Kong, in particular. When it opened in Hong Kong in 1975, McDonald’s was the first restaurant to consistently offer clean restrooms, driving customers to demand the same of other restaurants and institutions. McDonald’s has taken to partnering up with Sinopec, the second largest oil company in the People’s Republic of China, as it takes advantage of the country’s growing use of personal vehicles by opening numerous drive-thru restaurants.[45] McDonald’s has opened a McDonald’s restaurant and McCaf on the underground premises of the French fine arts museum, The Louvre.[46] The company stated it would open vegetarian-only restaurants in India by mid-2013.[47] Foreign restaurants are banned in Bermuda, with the exception of KFC, which was present before the current law was passed. Therefore, there are no McDonald’s in Bermuda.[48][unreliable source?] On January 9, 2017, 80% of the franchise rights in the mainland China and in Hong Kong were sold for US$2.080 billion to a consortium of CITIC Limited (for 32%) and private equity funds managed by CITIC Capital (for 20%) and Carlyle (for 20%), which CITIC Limited and CITIC Capital would also formed a joint venture to own the stake.[49] McDonald’s predominantly sells hamburgers, various types of chicken, chicken sandwiches, French fries, soft drinks, breakfast items, and desserts. In most markets, McDonald’s offers salads and vegetarian items, wraps and other localized fare. On a seasonal basis, McDonald’s offers the McRib sandwich. Some speculate the seasonality of the McRib adds to its appeal.[50] Products are offered as either “eat-in” (where the customer opts to eat in the restaurant) or “take-out” (where the customer opts to take the food for consumption off the premises). “Eat-in” meals are provided on a plastic tray with a paper insert on the floor of the tray. “Take-out” meals are usually delivered with the contents enclosed in a distinctive McDonald’s-branded brown paper bag. In both cases, the individual items are wrapped or boxed as appropriate. Since Steve Easterbrook became CEO of the company, McDonald’s has streamlined the menu which in the United States contained nearly 200 items. The company has also looked to introduce healthier options, and removed high-fructose corn syrup from hamburger buns. The company has also removed artificial preservatives from Chicken McNuggets,[51] replacing chicken skin, safflower oil and citric acid found in Chicken McNuggets with pea starch, rice starch and powdered lemon juice.[52] Restaurants in several countries, particularly in Asia, serve soup. This local deviation from the standard menu is a characteristic for which the chain is particularly known, and one which is employed either to abide by regional food taboos (such as the religious prohibition of beef consumption in India) or to make available foods with which the regional market is more familiar (such as the sale of McRice in Indonesia, or Ebi (prawn) Burger in Singapore and Japan). In Germany and some other Western European countries, McDonald’s sells beer. In New Zealand, McDonald’s sells meat pies, after the local affiliate partially relaunched the Georgie Pie fast food chain it bought out in 1996. In the United States, after limited trials on a regional basis, McDonald’s plans to offer an all-day breakfast menu whenever its restaurants are open, although eggs cannot be cooked at the same time on the same equipment as hamburgers due to different temperature requirements.[citation needed] Most standalone McDonald’s restaurants offer both counter service and drive-through service, with indoor and sometimes outdoor seating.[53] Drive-Thru, Auto-Mac, Pay and Drive, or “McDrive” as it is known in many countries, often has separate stations for placing, paying for, and picking up orders, though the latter two steps are frequently combined;[53] it was first introduced in Arizona in 1975, following the lead of other fast-food chains. The first such restaurant in Britain opened at Fallowfield, Manchester in 1986.[54] In some countries, “McDrive” locations near highways offer no counter service or seating.[55] In contrast, locations in high-density city neighborhoods often omit drive-through service.[56] There are also a few locations, located mostly in downtown districts, that offer a “Walk-Thru” service in place of Drive-Thru.[57] McCaf is a caf-style accompaniment to McDonald’s restaurants and is a concept created by McDonald’s Australia (also known, and marketed, as “Macca’s” in Australia), starting with Melbourne in 1993.[58] As of 2016, most McDonald’s in Australia have McCafs located within the existing McDonald’s restaurant. In Tasmania, there are McCafs in every restaurant, with the rest of the states quickly following suit.[53] After upgrading to the new McCaf look and feel, some Australian restaurants have noticed up to a 60 percent increase in sales. At the end of 2003, there were over 600 McCafs worldwide. From 20152016, McDonald’s tried a new gourmet burger service/restaurant concept based on other gourmet restaurants such as Shake Shack and Grill’d. It was rolled out for the first time in Australia during the early months of 2015 and expanded to China, Hong Kong, Singapore, Arabia and New Zealand, with ongoing trials in the US market. In dedicated “Create Your Taste” (CYT) kiosks, customers could choose all ingredients including type of bun and meat along with optional extras. In late 2015 the Australian CYT service introduced CYT salads. After a person had ordered, McDonald’s advised that wait times were between 1015 minutes. When the food was ready, trained crew (‘hosts’) brought the food to the customer’s table. Instead of McDonald’s usual cardboard and plastic packaging, CYT food was presented on wooden boards, fries in wire baskets and salads in china bowls with metal cutlery. A higher price applied. In November 2016, Create Your Taste was replaced by a “Signature Crafted Recipes” program designed to be more efficient and less expensive.[59] Some locations are connected to gas stations/convenience stores,[60] while others called McExpress have limited seating and/or menu or may be located in a shopping mall. Other McDonald’s are located in Walmart stores. McStop is a location targeted at truckers and travelers which may have services found at truck stops.[61] In Sweden, customers who order a happy meal can use the meal’s container for a pair of happy goggles.[62] The company created a game for the goggles known as “Slope Stars.[62]” McDonald’s predicts happy goggles will continue in other countries.[62] In the Netherlands, McDonald’s has introduced McTrax that doubles as a recording studio; it reacts to touch.[62] They can create their own beats with a synth and tweak sounds with special effects.[62] The first kosher McDonald’s was established in 1997 at the Abasto de Buenos Aires mall in Buenos Aires, Argentina. There are also many kosher branches in Israel.[63][64] McDonald’s playgrounds are called McDonald’s PlayPlace. Some McDonald’s in suburban areas and certain cities feature large indoor or outdoor playgrounds. The first PlayPlace with the familiar crawl-tube design with ball pits and slides was introduced in 1987 in the US, with many more being constructed soon after. McDonald’s Next use open-concept design and offer “Create Your Taste” digital ordering. The concept store also offering free mobile device charging and table service after 6:00 pm. The first store opened in Hong Kong in December 2015.[65] In 2006, McDonald’s introduced its “Forever Young” brand by redesigning all of its restaurants, the first major redesign since the 1970s.[66][67] The goal of the redesign is to be more like a coffee shop, similar to Starbucks. The design includes wooden tables, faux-leather chairs, and muted colors; the red was muted to terracotta, the yellow was shifted to golden for a more “sunny” look, and olive and sage green were also added. To create a warmer look, the restaurants have less plastic and more brick and wood, with modern hanging lights to produce a softer glow. Many restaurants now feature free Wi-Fi and flat-screen TVs. Other upgrades include double drive-thrus, flat roofs instead of the angled red roofs, and replacing fiber glass with wood. Also, instead of the familiar golden arches, the restaurants now feature “semi-swooshes” (half of a golden arch), similar to the Nike swoosh.[68] McDonald’s began banning smoking in 1994 when it banned smoking within its 1,400 wholly owned restaurants.[69] Since the late 1990s, McDonald’s has attempted to replace employees with electronic kiosks which would perform actions such taking orders and accepting money. In 1999, McDonald’s first tested “E-Clerks” in suburban Chicago, Illinois, and Wyoming, Michigan, with the devices being able to “save money on live staffers” and attracting larger purchase amounts than average employees.[70] In 2013, the University of Oxford estimated that in the succeeding decades, there was a 92% probability of food preparation and serving to become automated in fast food establishments.[71] By 2016, McDonald’s “Create Your Taste” electronic kiosks were seen in some restaurants internationally where customers could custom order meals. As employees pushed for higher wages in the late-2010s, some believed that fast food companies such as McDonald’s would use the devices to cut costs for employing individuals.[72] On August 5, 2013, The Guardian revealed that 90 percent of McDonald’s UK workforce are on zero hour contracts, making it possibly the largest such private sector employer in the country.[73] A study released by Fast Food Forward conducted by Anzalone Liszt Grove Research showed that approximately 84 percent of all fast food employees working in New York City in April 2013 had been paid less than their legal wages by their employers.[74] From 2007 to 2011, fast food workers in the US drew an average of $7 billion of public assistance annually resulting from receiving low wages.[75] The McResource website advised employees to break their food into smaller pieces to feel fuller, seek refunds for unopened holiday purchases, sell possessions online for quick cash, and to “quit complaining” as “stress hormone levels rise by 15 percent after ten minutes of complaining.”[76] In December 2013, McDonald’s shut down the McResource website amidst negative publicity and criticism. McDonald’s plans to continue an internal telephone help line through which its employees can obtain advice on work and life problems.[77] Liberal thinktank the Roosevelt Institute accuses some McDonald’s restaurants of actually paying less than the minimum wage to entry positions due to ‘rampant’ wage theft.[78] In South Korea, McDonald’s pays part-time employees $5.50 an hour and is accused of paying less with arbitrary schedules adjustments and pay delays.[79] In late 2015, Anonymous aggregated data collected by Glassdoor suggests that McDonald’s in the United States pays entry-level employees between $7.25 an hour and $11 an hour, with an average of $8.69 an hour. Shift managers get paid an average of $10.34 an hour. Assistant managers get paid an average of $11.57 an hour.[80] McDonald’s CEO, Steve Easterbrook, currently earns an annual salary of $1,100,000.[81] McDonald’s workers have on occasions decided to strike over pay, with most of the employees on strike seeking to be paid $15.00.[82] When interviewed about the strikes occurring, former McDonald’s CEO Ed Rensi stated: “It’s cheaper to buy a $35,000 robotic arm than it is to hire an employee who’s inefficient making $15 an hour bagging french fries” with Rensi explaining that increasing employee wages could possibly take away from entry-level jobs.[83] However, according to Easterbrook, increasing wages and benefits for workers saw a 6% increase in customer satisfaction when comparing 2015’s first quarter data to the first quarter of 2016, with greater returns seen as a result.[83] In September 2017, two British McDonald’s stores agreed to a strike over zero hours contracts for staff. Picket lines were formed around the two stores in Crayford and Cambridge. The strike was supported by the Leader of the Opposition, Jeremy Corbyn.[84][85] In March 2015, McDonald’s workers in 19 US cities filed 28 health and safety complaints with the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration which allege that low staffing, lack of protective gear, poor training and pressure to work fast has resulted in injuries. The complaints also allege that, because of a lack of first aid supplies, workers were told by management to treat burn injuries with condiments such as mayonnaise and mustard.[86] The Fight for $15 labor organization aided the workers in filing the complaints.[87] In 2015, McDonald’s pledged to stop using eggs from battery cage facilities by 2025. Since McDonald’s purchases over 2 billion eggs per year or 4 percent of eggs produced in the United States, the switch is expected to have a major impact on the egg industry and is part of a general trend toward cage-free eggs driven by consumer concern over the harsh living conditions of hens.[88][89] The aviary systems from which the new eggs will be sourced are troubled by much higher mortality rates, as well as introducing environmental and worker safety problems.[90] The high hen mortality rate, which is more than double that of battery cage systems, will require new research to mitigate. The facilities also have higher ammonia levels due to faeces being kicked up into the air. Producers raised concerns about the production cost, which is expected to increase by 36 percent.[91] McDonald’s continues to source pork from facilities that use gestation crates, and in 2012 pledged to phase them out.[92] McDonald’s has for decades maintained an extensive advertising campaign. In addition to the usual media (television, radio, and newspaper), the company makes significant use of billboards and signage, sponsors sporting events ranging from Little League to the FIFA World Cup and Olympic Games.[93] Television has played a central role in the company’s advertising strategy.[94] To date, McDonald’s has used 23 different slogans in United States advertising, as well as a few other slogans for select countries and regions.[95] McDonald’s and NASA explored an advertising agreement for a planned mission to the asteroid 449 Hamburga; however, the spacecraft was eventually cancelled.[96] McDonald’s is the title sponsor of the McDonald’s All-American Game, all-star basketball games played each year for American and Canadian boys’ and girls’ high school basketball graduates. McHappy Day is an annual event at McDonald’s, where a percentage of the day’s sales go to charity. It is the signature fundraising event for Ronald McDonald House Charities.[97] In 2007, it was celebrated in 17 countries: Argentina, Australia, Austria, Brazil, Canada, the United States, Finland, France, Guatemala, Hungary, England, Ireland, New Zealand, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, and Uruguay. According to the Australian McHappy Day website, McHappy Day raised $20.4 million in 2009. The goal for 2010 was $20.8 million.[98] In 1995, St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital received an anonymous letter postmarked in Dallas, Texas, containing a $1 million winning McDonald’s Monopoly game piece. McDonald’s officials came to the hospital, accompanied by a representative from the accounting firm Arthur Andersen, who examined the card under a jeweler’s eyepiece, handled it with plastic gloves, and verified it as a winner.[99] Although game rules prohibited the transfer of prizes, McDonald’s waived the rule and has made the annual $50,000 annuity payments, even after learning that the piece was sent by an individual involved in an embezzlement scheme intended to defraud McDonald’s (see McDonald’s Monopoly). McRefugees are poor people in Hong Kong, Japan, and China who use McDonald’s 24-hour restaurants as a temporary hostel. One in five of Hong Kong’s population lives below the poverty line. The rise of McRefugees was first documented by photographer Suraj Katra in 2013.[100] In 1990, activists from a small group known as London Greenpeace (no connection to the international group Greenpeace) distributed leaflets entitled What’s wrong with McDonald’s?, criticizing its environmental, health, and labor record. The corporation wrote to the group demanding they desist and apologize, and, when two of the activists refused to back down, sued them for libel in one of the longest cases in British civil law. A documentary film of the McLibel Trial has been shown in several countries.[101] In the late 1980s, Phil Sokolof, a millionaire businessman who had suffered a heart attack at the age of 43, took out full-page newspaper ads in New York, Chicago, and other large cities accusing McDonald’s menu of being a threat to American health, and asking them to stop using beef tallow to cook their french fries.[102] Despite the objections of McDonald’s, the term “McJob” was added to Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary in 2003.[103] The term was defined as “a low-paying job that requires little skill and provides little opportunity for advancement”.[104] In 2001, Eric Schlosser’s book Fast Food Nation included criticism of the business practices of McDonald’s. Among the critiques were allegations that McDonald’s (along with other companies within the fast food industry) uses its political influence to increase its profits at the expense of people’s health and the social conditions of its workers. The book also brought into question McDonald’s advertisement techniques in which it targets children. While the book did mention other fast-food chains, it focused primarily on McDonald’s. In 2002, vegetarian groups, largely Hindu and Buddhist, successfully sued McDonald’s for misrepresenting its French fries as vegetarian, when they contained beef broth.[105] Morgan Spurlock’s 2004 documentary film Super Size Me claimed that McDonald’s food was contributing to the increase of obesity in society and that the company was failing to provide nutritional information about its food for its customers. Six weeks after the film premiered, McDonald’s announced that it was eliminating the super size option, and was creating the adult Happy Meal. In 2006, an unsanctioned McDonald’s Video Game by Italian group Molleindustria was released online. It is parody of the business practices of the corporate giant, taking the guise of a tycoon style business simulation game. In the game, the player plays the role of a McDonald’s CEO, choosing whether or not to use controversial practices like genetically altered cow feed, plowing over rainforests, and corrupting public officials. McDonald’s issued a statement distancing itself from the game.[106] In January 2014, it was reported that McDonald’s was accused of having used a series of tax maneuvers to avoid taxes in France. The company confirmed that tax authorities had visited McDonald’s French headquarters in Paris but insisted that it had not done anything wrong, saying, “McDonald’s firmly denies the accusation made by L’Express according to which McDonald’s supposedly hid part of its revenue from taxes in France.”[107] In response to public pressure, McDonald’s has sought to include more healthy choices in its menu and has introduced a new slogan to its recruitment posters: “Not bad for a McJob”.[108] The word McJob, first attested in the mid-1980s[103] and later popularized by Canadian novelist Douglas Coupland in his book Generation X, has become a buzz word for low-paid, unskilled work with few prospects or benefits and little security. McDonald’s disputes this definition of McJob. In 2007, the company launched an advertising campaign with the slogan “Would you like a career with that?” on Irish television, asserting that its jobs have good prospects. In an effort to respond to growing consumer awareness of food provenance, the fast-food chain changed its supplier of both coffee beans and milk. UK chief executive Steve Easterbrook said: “British consumers are increasingly interested in the quality, sourcing, and ethics of the food and drink they buy”.[109] In a bid to tap into the ethical consumer market,[110] McDonald’s switched to using coffee beans taken from stocks that are certified by the Rainforest Alliance, a conservation group. Additionally, in response to pressure, McDonald’s UK started using organic milk supplies for its bottled milk and hot drinks, although it still uses conventional milk in its milkshakes, and in all of its dairy products in the United States.[111] According to a report published by Farmers Weekly in 2007, the quantity of milk used by McDonald’s could have accounted for as much as 5 percent of the UK’s organic milk output.[112] McDonald’s announced on May 22, 2008, that, in the United States and Canada, it would switch to using cooking oil that contains no trans fats for its french fries, and canola-based oil with corn and soy oils, for its baked items, pies and cookies, by year’s end.[113][114] With regard to acquiring chickens from suppliers who use CAK/CAS methods of slaughter, McDonald’s says that it needs to see more research “to help determine whether any CAS system in current use is optimal from an animal welfare perspective.”[115] In April 2008, McDonald’s announced that 11 of its Sheffield, England restaurants have been engaged in a biomass trial that had cut its waste and carbon footprint by half in the area. In this trial, wastes from the restaurants were collected by Veolia Environmental Services and were used to produce energy at a power plant. McDonald’s plans to expand this project, although the lack of biomass power plants in the United States will prevent this plan from becoming a national standard anytime soon.[116] In addition, in Europe, McDonald’s has been recycling vegetable grease by converting it to fuel for its diesel trucks.[117] McDonald’s has been using a corn-based bioplastic to produce containers for some of its products. The environmental benefits of this technology are controversial, with critics noting that biodegradation is slow, produces greenhouse gases and that contamination of traditional plastic waste streams with bioplastics can complicate recycling efforts.[118] In 1990, McDonald’s worked with the Environmental Defense Fund to stop using “clam shell” shaped styrofoam food containers to house its food products.[119] 20 years later, McDonald’s announced they would try replacing styrofoam coffee cups with an alternative material.[120] The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has recognized McDonald’s continuous effort to reduce solid waste by designing more efficient packaging and by promoting the use of recycled-content materials.[121] McDonald’s reports that it is committed towards environmental leadership by effectively managing electric energy, by conserving natural resources through recycling and reusing materials, and by addressing water management issues within the restaurant.[122] In an effort to reduce energy usage by 25 percent in its restaurants, McDonald’s opened a prototype restaurant in Chicago in 2009 with the intention of using the model in its other restaurants throughout the world. Building on past efforts, specifically a restaurant it opened in Sweden in 2000 that was the first to intentionally incorporate green ideas, McDonald’s designed the Chicago site to save energy by incorporating old and new ideas such as managing storm water, using skylights for more natural lighting and installing some partitions and tabletops made from recycled goods.[123] When McDonald’s received criticism for its environmental policies in the 1970s, it began to make substantial progress in reducing its use of materials.[124] For instance, an “average meal” in the 1970sa Big Mac, fries, and a drinkrequired 46grams of packaging; today, it requires only 25grams, allowing a 46 percent reduction.[125] In addition, McDonald’s eliminated the need for intermediate containers for cola by having a delivery system that pumps syrup directly from the delivery truck into storage containers, saving two million pounds (910 tonnes) of packaging annually.[126] Overall, weight reductions in packaging and products, as well as the increased usage of bulk packaging ultimately decreased packaging by twenty-four million pounds (11,000 tonnes) annually.[127] McDonald’s has been involved in a number of lawsuits and other legal cases, most of which involved trademark disputes. The company has threatened many food businesses with legal action unless it drops the Mc or Mac from trading names. On September 8, 2009, McDonald’s Malaysian operations lost a lawsuit to prevent another restaurant calling itself McCurry. McDonald’s lost in an appeal to Malaysia’s highest court, the Federal Court.[128] In April 2007, in Perth, Western Australia, McDonald’s pleaded guilty to five charges relating to the employment of children under 15 in one of its outlets and was fined A$8,000.[129] In 2016, the Australian Taxation Office revealed that McDonald’s Asia-Pacific Consortium had generated $478 million in revenue in 201314, but had paid no tax on those earnings whatsoever.[130] McDonald’s has defended itself in several cases involving workers’ rights.[citation needed] The longest running legal action of all time in the UK was the McLibel case against 2 defendants who criticized a number of aspects of the company. The trial lasted 10 years and called 130 witnesses. The European Court of Human Rights deemed that the unequal resources of the litigants breached the defendants rights to freedom of speech and biased the trial. The result was widely seen as a “PR disaster.”[131] A famous legal case in the US involving McDonald’s was the 1994 decision in Liebeck v. McDonald’s Restaurants where Stella Liebeck was awarded several million dollars after she suffered third-degree burns after spilling a scalding cup of McDonald’s coffee on herself.[132] In April 2014, it was reported that McDonald’s in Europe will use chicken meat that was produced by using genetically modified animal feed. Greenpeace argues that McDonald’s saves less than one Eurocent for each chicken burger and goes down a path not desired by its customers.[133] Links to related articles

Last week, renowned anti-racist advocate, Tim Wise, came to UMass for a screening of his new documentary, White Like Me, followed by a question and answer period with the audience. I wont go into details about the actual documentary, yall can check that on your own time, but during the post-screening period, Wise was confronted about some online beef that occurred after a post on his blog in remembrance of the 50th anniversary of the Birmingham 16th Street Church bombing that killed 4 African-American girls on September 16th, 1963. His post not only acknowledges the tragedy, but also pays tribute to a man named Charles Morgan, Jr, a white southerner who lived in Birmingham at the time, but who opposed the bombings and was ultimately chased out of the South because of his willingness to speak out against racism. Following the post, a stream of opposition came. In general, they criticized Wises emphasis on the need for white allies. After all, they said, if it wasnt for white people making the lives so hard for Black-Americans to begin with, they wouldnt need white partnership in the first place. Wise retaliated to the responses through his Facebook page, the status update wasnt so friendly. Wise admitted to the audience at UMass that he was wrong for how he reacted, saying that he is only human, and he cant be perfect all the time. Once the applause ended after the apology, a man of color rose and told his own story of dealing with anger. He was a professor at Hampshire College, from the Bronx, and he explained how living in western Massachusetts is never easy for men of color. He told Wise of the discrimination he deals with on a regular basis. Despite being a college professor, it was the color of his skin that was seen first, and it would always put him in a disadvantage. Any man of color knows, he said, that we dont get the luxury of being only human, because being of color, any outburst could be your lastyou dont need to read a James Baldwin novel to come to that realization. Tim Wise, a renowned expert on white privilege, could recognize he was a product of white privilege, but he could never fully understand how it manifested itself in his own life. If I he could, then he would never have been so openly accepting of the fact that he can have angry outbursts over issues as sensitive as the Birmingham bombing, and so easily get applause over it. It was a year ago on my college campus when I had first met Tim Wise. I had no idea how famous Tim was, I had never heard of him before. As I sat down to hear him speak to a packed auditorium, I was impressed and unimpressed all in one. I remember being amused by his delivery, you cannot deny he wouldnt fair too badly as a stand up comedian. He has a way of fusing irony and raw facts through stating just the obvious reality. That is always refreshing to hear from someone who isnt of color. But then that becomes the real issue: Tim Wise isnt a person of color. What he was saying wasnt anything new or profound, but it was the fact that he was white which was why people gave him so much praise. So to put it ironically: In the same way Tim Wise goes around raising awareness on white privilege, he also benefits from itheis white privilege. At the end of the lecture, a friend who helped organized the event asked if I would go with him to take Tim to the airport. I couldnt turn down an opportunity to get some one one one with Tim Wise after hearing everything he just said. We covered a lot of ground in that 40-minute car ride. He told me about where he grew up, what he studied in college, why he does the work he does, he even told me how he met his wife. We talked about my own studies, intellectual curiosities, and some of the research I was currently working on. It was an inspirational car ride, one that influenced the direction of a lot of the research I did that semester, along with many of the things I write on this blog. And then he did admit what I had been thinking all along: that his whiteness was the reason for his success. He knew why he was getting called to speak all over the country. He knew why he was able to get through to white people. He was aware of his whiteness, and how that created so many privileges that automatically put him ahead of blacks who were saying much of the very same things he was, and who were also working in the field of anti-racism. And for me, my criticism of Wise doesnt come from the fact that he is a white guy discussing racism. Its how he utilizes his whiteness. He continually makes mention of how he is a white ally for Black America, and then goes on to expect us to give him a gold star. As stated in the blog GroupThink: Its great that that guy stood up for what was right, but to try to piggy back on a very significant and painful part of AA history to sing the praises of a white guy who did the right things is missing the point. Its great he did that. Its awesome, but he doesnt get a cookie. Why is it so hard for people to understand that you dont get applause for being a decent person? I dont have issues with Tim Wise wanting to stand up against racism, its quite commendable when anyonewhite or blackstands up for racial justice. My issues are with the fact of how righteously he goes about parading his whiteness when speaking about these issues, and then expects us to view him as some kind of white knight. I dont care if he goes around speaking to large audiences, its the fact that he has become more than just a spokesperson on white privilege and that he feels he can also become a spokesperson for Black America, as well. I dont have any inner-conflicts being upset when people ask Tim Wise to speak on national television over issues of race when there is a sea of well qualified black scholars who can say the same things Tim says, if not better. My words to Tim Wise: Black-America could use a few white allies, but we dont need white leaders attempting to claim some sort of moral medal for doing what every human being should be expected to do: the right thing. Like Loading…

Billy Roper actually agrees with Tim Wise about something. Once again pretending to be White as he does when it suits him in order to engage in propaganda aimed at Whites, rabid Jew Tim Wise demands that all people, especially all White people, choose a side in what he calls this new Civil War. Okay. Be careful what you ask for, kike. And if its adherents cannot be deprogrammed, then they must be defeated, without the least bit of sentimentality.In fact, you know what very fine people would do to neo-Nazis? They would yell at them. And yes, they might even mace them or punch them in the mouth. Very fine people detest Nazis. In fact, detesting Nazis might be a bona fide requirement the de minimus definition for being considered a very fine personBecause see, now it is time for us to choose a side if we havent already, and to recommit to the fight. Like Loading… Related

The history of America is the history of rich white men telling not-rich white people that their enemies are black and brown. Presentation by Tim Wise in the Rectors Forum, at All Saints Church, Pasadena, on Sunday, April 30, 2017. For more about the mission and ministry of All Saints Church visithttp://www.allsaints-pas.organd follow us on Twitter @ASCpas. Donate to support the mission and ministries of All Saints athttp://www.allsaints-pas.org/support/. Like Loading… Related

Photo Credit: Courtesy the Knesset Earlier this year, the Population and Immigration Authority sent the Prime Ministers Office an official letter stating that an additional 1,000 Ethiopian Jews meet Israels criteria for making Aliyah. This was revealed on Monday at a meeting of the Knesset State Control Committee, chaired by MK Shelly Yachimovich (Zionist Camp), which was convened to debate the fate of 8,000 Jews who remain stranded in Ethiopia, unable to make Aliyah. The positive result of todays meeting is that we received a very clear commitment to bring those 1,000 Jews to Israel, MK Yachimovich said. We heard from the Population and Immigration Authority and the Prime Ministers Office that the matter will be approved during a Government meeting within a month, and I believe it will be approved. If we see that there are delays, we will call an urgent meeting to expedite matters. Nevertheless, according to Yachimovich, despite this good news, it is unacceptable, from a moral and Zionist standpoint, that thousands of Jews remain in transit camps, in poor conditions, while their qualification as Jews is being examined with much more thoroughness than in cases of Jews from other countries. Yachimovich insisted that all the remaining Ethiopian Jews must be brought to Israel at once. We are a strong and stable country, we constantly hear that our situation could not be better and how many budget surpluses are in the States treasury, she said, therefore we have the ability and the means to end this saga, which is creating a deep fissure in the Ethiopian Israeli community. Prof. Shlomo Mor-Yosef, director general of Population and Immigration Authority, told the committee that there is a question [] regarding the Jewishness of those in Ethiopia, and because of this the State has decided that those who are still in Ethiopia will not make Aliyah under the Law of Return. Since then, we have been dealing with Aliyah quotas. I wish to stress that the employees of the Interior Ministry are not racists; we are operating in accordance with the Governments decision and we do not set the policy. MK Avraham Neguise (Likud) said that in Addis Ababa and Gondar, in Ethiopia, there are at least 1,000 people who meet the criteria set by the Government. A proper examination will find that even more people are eligible, he said. At the Interior Ministry there are some 5,000 requests which have yet to be processed. A representative of the Struggle for the Aliyah of Ethiopian Jewry organization, a former soldier in the IDF special force Duvdevan unit, told the committee that most of his family made Aliyah together, but two of his sisters remained in Ethiopia. They were told they could not make Aliyah with us, and we have been waiting for them since 2007, he said. One of my sisters has since been widowed, and my other sister recently married. These are significant events in their lives, but we could not share them because they are not permitted to make Aliyah. Thousands of Jews are waiting there in poor conditions for the Government to bring them to Israel. MK Omer Barlev (Zionist Camp) said, How can the term quotas be used when we are dealing with human beings? The country is strong, and it cannot be that a few thousand people cant be brought to Israel all at once. MK Meir Cohen (Yesh Atid) said, There is a population which is waiting in difficult conditions to make Aliyah. Why are they not being brought to Israel under the Law of Return? In 1973 the Israeli Ministry of Absorption prepared a comprehensive report on the Jewish-Ethiopian community, which stated that they were foreign in all aspects to the Jewish nation. The report concluded that there was no need to take action in order to help the ethnic group make Aliyah to Israel. This was going to be the end of the Falasha hopes to return to Zion. But shortly after the Ministrys report had been published, Rabbi Ovadia Yosef, the Sephardi chief rabbi, decreed that the Ethiopian Jews are a descendant tribe of Israel. The chief rabbi also said that giving them a proper Jewish education and the right to immigrate to Israel was a Mitzvah. This contradicted the position of Rabbi Shlomo Goren, the Ashkenazi chief rabbi, who expressed grave doubts as to the validity of their Jewish lineage. Rabbi Yosefs ruling resulted in the Law of Return being applied to the Ethiopian community, never mind the Ministry of Absorptions report and never mind Chief Rabbi Goren. Starting in the mid-1970s, a massive Aliyah effort brought close to 100,000 Ethiopian Jews to Israel. Those who have been refused entry belong largely to the Falash Mura community, which converted to Christianity in the 19th and 20th century, but which maintained familial ties with the Jewish Beta Israel community.

At least 1,000 Ethiopian Jews still living in Ethiopia will be able to immigrate to Israel in the coming year, after the Prime Ministers Office and the Interior Ministry said on Monday they had worked out an initial list of potential immigrants and expected to approve them within four weeks. There are approximately8,000 Jews in Ethiopiawith close relatives in Israel who are waiting to emigrate. Get The Times of Israel’s Daily Edition by email and never miss our top storiesFree Sign Up The last flight of Ethiopian immigrants arrived in Israel on December 28, 2017, bringing part of the 1,300 immigrants which arrived in 2017. But the cabinet did not approve the approximately NIS 200 million needed to absorb the 1,300 immigrants planned to arrive 2018, putting a hold on the flights. I am serving the state and fighting the state at the same time, Belaynich Indishu, who was a soldier in the Duvduvan combat unit and now works in security for the government, told the Knesset meeting on Monday. Indishu moved to Israel in 2007 and has two sisters still in Ethiopia. For what? So that I cant be with my sisters? MK Shelly Yachimovich (Labor), chairwoman of the State Control Committee which held the meeting, praised the announcement as an achievement. A member of the Falash Mura Jewish Ethiopian community lights the Sabbath candles before the Sabbath and Passover prayer service in the synagogue in Gondar, Ethiopia, April 22, 2016. (Miriam Alster/FLASH90) The suffering of 6,000 people in Gondar and Addis Ababa goes on for no apparent reason, she said. Were not talking about budget issues but ethical issues. There are forces in the government that are not interested in bringing them to Israel because they do not consider them Jewish, and the motivation here, unfortunately, is racism. Shlomo Mor-Yosef, the director general of the Population Immigration and Borders Authority, the branch of the Interior Ministry dealing with this issue, said that the Interior Ministrys employees were not racists but were simply implementing the governments decisions. He said the group expected to immigrate to Israel in 2018 will consist of approximately 1,000 parents and children, focusing on parents who already have some children in Israel. The process for immigration approval has beenplagued by accusations of racism and inefficiencyagainst the Interior Ministry, and there was asix-month delayin the flights in 2017. In November 2015, the government announced it would bring to Israel the remaining Ethiopian Jews awaiting immigration. The Finance Ministry allocated money for 1,300 Ethiopians to immigrate in 2017, the first step of a five-year program to bring new immigrants at a rate of approximately 100 per month. Young boys of the Falash Mura Jewish Ethiopian community wait for prayer service in the synagogue in Gondar, Ethiopia, April 22, 2016 (Miriam Alster/FLASH90) The Jews left behind in Ethiopia are classified as Falashmura, a term for Ethiopian Jews whose ancestors converted to Christianity, often under duress, generations ago. Because the Interior Ministry does not consider the Falashmura to be Jewish, they cannot immigrate under the Law of Return and therefore must get special permission from the government to move to Israel. Critics fear that tens of thousands of Ethiopians could claim eligibility under this process. The community counters that theprocess to determine their Jewishness was poorly executed and inaccurate, dividing families. At least 80 percent of the Jews in Ethiopia have first-degree relatives living in Israel, they say. Family members greet new arrivals from Ethiopia at Ben Gurion Airport on June 6, 2017. (Miriam Alster/Flash90) In August 2013, the government announced the end of Ethiopian immigration, claiming that all Ethiopian Jews were now in Israel. Since that time, the Jewish Agency withdrew its funding from the community synagogue in Gondar, canceling a nutrition program for children and at one point even removing the towns Torah scroll. Although the government unanimouslyapproved the immigration of all the remaining Jewsfrom Ethiopia in November 2015, the decisionfaltered three months laterwhen the Prime Ministers Office refused to implement the program because the NIS 1 billion ($284 million) it said was needed to fund the absorption process was not in the state budget.

written by: Vandana Singhal edited by: Elizabeth Stannard Gromisch updated: 3/2/2012 Why is there interest in studying languages? To answer this important question, Noam Chomsky proposed linguistic theories. Chomskys language acquisition theories are the most important in the world of linguistics. One of the greatest linguists of all times, Noam Chomsky asserts that language is innate. He wrote his famous book, Language and Mind” in 1972, in which he proposed his famous theories on language acquisition. In this book Chomsky wrote, When we study human language, we are approaching what some might call the ‘human essence,’ the distinctive qualities of mind that are, so far as we know, unique to man.” According to Chomsky, language is one characteristic that is unique to humans among all other living beings. Chomskys theories have made it easier to understand the evolution and development of the languages. Chomsky’s theories on language are based upon the importance of linguistics in modern sciences. According to him, to study languages, it is important study human nature that lies in human mind. Noam Chomsky postulated that the mechanism of the language acquisition is derived from the innate processes. Innate is something which is already there in mind since birth. The theory proposed by Chomsky is proved by the children living in same linguistic community. Moreover, they are not influenced by the external experiences which bring about the comparable grammar. He thus proposed his theory on language acquisition in 1977 as “all children share the same internal constraints which characterize narrowly the grammar they are going to construct.” He also proposed that all of us live in a biological world, and according to him, mental world is no exception. He also believes that as there are stages of development for other parts of the body, language development can also be achieved up to a certain age. Another postulate of Chomsky’s language acquisition theory is the process of selecting the best grammar that matches with the data available. He related the structural linguistics with empiricist thoughts. When talking about generative grammar, his views are different from structuralist theory. According to Chomsky, generative grammar should render explicit the implicit knowledge of the speaker.” He proposed a set of well-defined rules to generate required sequence of words. Individuals instantly decipher that a certain combination of words make sense and different combination does not make sense. The explanatory theory of generative grammar is beautifully demonstrated by the rules of the English auxiliary system. According to Chomsky, the field of linguistics does not include the study of meaning and reference and the use of language. According to linguistic theory, the concepts of the grammar are not based upon semantics, but linguistic theory should provide an explanation to the semantic phenomenon. Chomsky rejects the idea that human mind is a clean slate at birth and is filled in by experience. He suggested that the there are components of mind which are innately determined about languages and other systems of knowledge.

Conservative provocateur Milo Yiannopoulos has had another campus speech cancelled, only this time it was college Republicans who pulled the plug. The UCLA Bruin Republicans nixed the event Wednesday, just one day after announcing that Mr. Yiannopoulos would appear Feb. 26 to deliver a speech entitled, 10 Things I Hate About Mexico. The invitation ignited an outcry, including an open letter from UCLA associate professor Gabriel Rossman, who has supported the Bruin Republicans but said he would disassociate himself from the student group if it went ahead with the event. The campus organization said it decided to disinvite Mr. Yiannopoulos over dissension within its ranks. The decision to host Milo has polarized the leadership of the organization between those wishing to move forward with the event and those who wish to cancel it, said the Bruin Republicans in a Wednesday post on Facebook. The club recently hosted climate skeptic Alex Epstein, author of The Moral Case for Fossil Fuels, while conservative author Dinesh DSouza spoke in January at an event hosted by the UCLA Freedom Coalition. In order for an organization to be able to function properly, it must do so with the unequivocal support of all its members, said the clubs notice. This does not mean that we all must agree 100% on all issues but we must have at least a clear majority. Consequently, we have decided not to move forward with the event. Mr. Yiannopoulos was disappointed by the cancellation. I despair at the trajectory of Californian universities. Even the students who describe themselves as Republicans seem hopelessly lost and weak, he said on Facebook. He also vowed to continue arranging speeches in California. His February 2017 talk at the University of California Berkeley was abruptly cancelled after leftist protesters rioted, setting fires and causing $100,000 in damage to the campus. Unlike previous generations of conservative and libertarian activists I refuse to simply hand over the keys to the wacko left, Mr. Yiannopoulos said. In the meantime I urge parents to reconsider sending your kids to these schools. Theyre not getting educated theyre getting indoctrinated. Chancellor Gene Block praised the decision to rescind the invitation. I hope we will all continue to resist such provocations and nurture our campus culture, which values ideas over hatred, he said in a campus email, as reported by the Daily Bruin. Mr. Rossman was also pleased. That the university respects free speech rights and that it was the clubs decision to make, is just as important as the outcome, he said in a post on the Weekly Standard.

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